Blade in the Shadows
by Leonineus
Summary: Naruto goes to Uzushiogakure because Jiraiya made a promise to his mother on her deathbed that he would take him there when he was old enough. There he finds the remnants of the Assassin Brotherhood, and takes up the mantle as the Grand Master. NaruxHarem
1. Prologue

Blade in the Shadows

Prologue

_I crouch on the ledge, looking over the brink into the seething whirlpool far below. I knew my sensei Jiraiya of the Sannin was just behind me, watching as I looked down into the water._

_I am here, it transpires, because my sensei had made a promise to my mother on her deathbed after the Kyūbi had been sealed into me. He had promised that one day he would bring me to this spot and allow me to take "a leap of faith" from the ledge into the waterfall. Then my destiny would present itself._

_I shift my position slightly, still looking down, and only now notice a small line of text scratched into the rock right at the edge of the stone:_

Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

"_Curious," I mutter, before turning to look back at my sensei, "I'm going to jump now. See you later, ero-sennin."_

_Jiraiya scowls, folding his arms, "If you do survive, please stop calling me that."_

_I smirk back at him before turning back to the ledge and kicking off, propelling myself into the air like a bird, spreading my arms like an eagle's wings as I arc gracefully out over the centre of the whirlpool and plunge towards the eye of the maelstrom._

_I land in a pool of water deep below the bottom of the whirlpool, climbing out to find myself standing in a large chamber, empty but for an elaborate arch at the other end. Around the walls hang banners, each with the same emblem; a single line in an arrowhead shape with curled in points at the bottom, another curved line underneath that and in the middle, an Uzumaki spiral. I am evidently in the right place._

_I walk on through the arch and find myself in a large chamber with a set of doors leading off in different directions. Ahead of me, directly opposite, sits a throne-like chair, and in the chair sits an elderly man, staring across at me and leaning on a long staff. Next to the throne is a workbench with a large cleaver embedded into its pitted wooden surface._

"_Who are you?" I hear myself say._

_The man stands up and takes a shaky step towards me, "I am the last Grand Master of the Assassin Order. I see you have finally come before me to pursue your destiny, young Uzumaki."_

"_The Assassin Order? What is that?" I respond._

_The man smiles, stepping forwards with a rhythmic clunking noise from his staff, "It is an organization devoted to defending the freedom of humanity. Even now, young one, the world comes steadily closer to being totally ruled over by one man. You are here because it has come to the point where you are the only one who can stop this man and repopulate our Order."_

"_Me?" I protest, "I'm only one person, a genin! I still need to catch up with my friend, I made a promise!"_

_The man raised his eyes to me, and I feel as though the breath has frozen in my lungs. His eyes are deep and mysterious, eerily so, and I feel as though they are looking into my very soul, my very essence, the being that makes me who I am. "Yes, I know of the one named Sasuke Uchiha. He is a pawn, an accessory to the one who would take over the world. Your destiny lies not with him, Uzumaki."_

"_What do you mean? I made a promise, and I never break a promise!"_

"_Everybody must break a promise at one point in their life. The Uchiha is far beyond your reach now; he does not wish to repent of his sins. You must come with me, young Uzumaki. There is much that must be done before you may leave this place."_

"_Like what?" I reply, feeling a flash of indignation but deciding to play along for the moment._

_The man stares me right in the eye for a long moment before he spoke again, "Follow."_

_I follow him towards one of the doors, which bears the same logo as the banners. When he opens it and enters, I walk in cautiously, seeing a number of dummies around the room with copies of the same outfit on them._

_The man walks to a dummy, removes the outfit from it and hands it to me, "Put that on!"_

_I open my mouth to protest, but decide not to after a few moments and start putting on the uniform. Finally, I pull up the hood and am directed to look at a mirror to one side._

_The outfit resembles a hooded robe, the front of the hood being designed to look vaguely like an eagle's beak. An elaborately tooled sheath hangs at my left hip, and the belt is adorned with an emblem like that on the doors and banners, with several pouches hanging off the back and sides of the main belt._

_The elderly man then escorts me from the dressing room, for that is what it seems to be, and walks over to another door. When he opens it, I see glinting metal and grin. An armoury is in the next room, it seems._

_We walk inside, and I am proved right. The man directs me to a weapon rack, where I am instructed to collect a dagger and some kind of strange gauntlet which goes on my right arm. Next, I am told to go to an armour rack to collect a pair of shoulder pauldrons, a breastplate, greaves and a vambrace for my left arm. Donning them, I sheathe the dagger and start to examine the odd gauntlet adorned with what I now know to be the Assassin emblem._

_The man explains, "That is the basic tool of the Assassin Order; your hidden blade. It also contains a hollow blade connected to a sac of poison which will kill a man in under a minute. You must wear gloves when using that blade, because the slightest drop of that poison getting into your bloodstream will kill you. Under the blade is a tiny firearm, something like a chakra-powered kunai launcher, except it fires tiny balls of metal. You may use that to kill your opponent from a long range. There is also a method of modifying your poison blade so that it fires poisoned darts at your enemy. I can show you how to do that, if you so choose."_

_He pauses to look me in the eye. When I nod, he continues, "Now come over here. You need one final weapon, and then we may progress."_

_I approach, and he hands me something that looks like a wooden stick with two curving sticks poking out either side. A string is tied to the ends of the two curving sticks, pulling it back into a shape reminiscent of a bow._

"_This is a crossbow. It is like a bow, but held in one hand. You can use it for silent instant kills. Put it on the harness on your back." I hang it on my back as instructed, and the man supplies me with a full set of kunai and shuriken, a dozen smoke bombs and a quiver full of bolts for the crossbow before we walk towards the door once more._

_I now stand in front of the bench as the man gives me a hard look, "There are three last things we need to do before you can become an Assassin. The first is that you must make a sacrifice. The way the blade is constructed, you must cut off your ring finger in order for the blade to function properly."_

_I feel a momentary twinge of apprehension, but the knowledge that I would be able to defend my precious people from being enslaved allowed me to curl all my fingers but my ring finger into a fist and set it on the table.  
_

_There is a brief pause, then a flash of steel and a sharp pain in my hand. I groan and clench my other hand reflexively over my injured one's wrist, but I can already feel the Kyūbi's chakra healing the injury. A few seconds pass and then I inspect the injury. It is now a perfectly formed dome of scar tissue. I flex my remaining fingers. It is an odd feeling, missing a finger._

_The man smiles for the first time, "Now, the second thing, we must awaken your kekkei genkai."_

_I stare at him blankly; surprised by this revelation, "I have a kekkei genkai?"_

_He nods, "Yes. It is called two things among our Order and clan: the Washigan, or Eagle Eye; and the Hanteigan, or Judgement Eye. Another term is "Eagle Vision". You will be able to tell if a person is a friend or an enemy, it also grants you the ability to read their intentions. You may turn it on and off at will, but it is not possible to use it to attack anybody. It is not like other kekkei genkai."_

_I listen to him telling me all of this for a long moment and find that all I can say is, "cool"._

_I am startled when he steps forwards and sets a hand on my forehead. All I can see is that the hand is glowing slightly, before suddenly I feel my eyes tingling and then the man before me is wreathed in bright blue. "Cease channelling chakra to your eyes and you will turn it off."_

_I concentrate for a second, and finally manage to sever the chakra flow, deactivating the kekkei genkai. "What's the final thing I need to do?"_

_The man fixes me with his piercing stare, "Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember…"_

_I stare at him for a second, wondering what he meant, but then I recalled the inscription on the ledge above the waterfall and responded, "Nothing is true."_

_He continues, "Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember…"_

_I answer, "Everything is permitted."_

_He makes eye contact once more, causing me to shiver slightly before saying, "__Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru._ _Nothing is true, everything is permitted."_

_He turns away, leaving me to stand there in silence until I ask, "What about training? Am I going to be trained to use all of this?"_

_The man twists to face me again, his face looking in that moment older than he has all the time I have been here, "My time grows short. I am only here because I am bound with a forbidden jutsu which allows me to live on until I have fulfilled a certain purpose. I can feel it now, unravelling as I have now passed on our Order's secrets. I have only one thing left to tell you, the tenets behind our Creed and our brotherhood, our Order; and then I will bestow my own knowledge of the skills and jutsu we use on you. Then I can die, after countless years in this lonely place. It will be up to you to teach the new generation of Assassins."_

_I stare at him, "Sorry?"_

_He smirks under his beard, "I know well that Konoha has something called the Clan Resurrection Act, to help revive failing clans. I know your parentage exactly, Naruto. Under that act, you will be required to take a minimum of four wives in order to revive your clans."_

_I pick up on a single word, "Clans?"_

_He smirks again, "Yes. Obviously you're responsible for reviving the Uzumaki clan, but you also need to revive your father's clan too."_

_I don't know who my father actually is, so I voice the obvious question, "Who was he? I don't actually know."_

_The old man frowns, "He was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of the Leaf Village. Actually, for that matter I'm fairly glad my village is the safe hands of my grand-daughter."_

_I think on this for a second, and am stunned by the answer provided by my brain, "Your grand-daughter? But that would mean… but that's not possible! You died! Years ago! You handed over control of the village to your brother and then died! We learnt about in the Academy! You should be dead by now!"_

_The man smiles, straightening up and laughing, "Yes, you got it right! I am Hashirama Senju, Shodaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. As for How I'm still alive, it's a side effect of my bloodline. Much like the Uzumaki's incredible physical endurance, in fact; but that's to be expected considering the Senju and Uzumaki are actually distantly related."_

_I am stunned again as yet another revelation strikes me; the third in about fifteen minutes, "We are?"_

_Hashirama nods, "Yes, we are. Both our lines have been part of the Assassin Order almost since the roots of our clan first began to spread. My grand-daughter is the only one who has not been trained in our arts. She is now too old for the training, plus I don't think she has the figure for it. I have seen her; she has grown well."_

_I smirk, thinking of baa-chan's figure and remembering how he enthrals the ero-sennin, "You can say that again. Hang on, how do you know what she looks like if you haven't seen her in years? She thinks you're dead!"_

_Hashirama reaches into his robes and pulls out a small orb, "Do you know what this is?"_

_At my puzzled look, he answers, "This is what allows each Hokage to look over the village. It's attuned to my chakra signature so each Hokage has to have them made specifically for their use. I kept mine when I went into hiding; my brother Tobirama helped me get away. What was buried in my grave was in fact a wood clone of me."_

_I look predictably stumped, and ask the question which is really nagging at me, "So what are the tenets of the Creed?"_

_Hashirama holds up three fingers, looking between them into my eyes, "One: Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Those who must die; must die. Those who do not need to die; do not need to die."_

_I frown, "I would never strike down an innocent anyway."_

_Hashirama smiles, lowering his first finger, "Just what I would expect of one of the Uzumaki. Now, the second tenet: Always be discreet. You must be one with the crowd and one with the shadows. Appear from nowhere, slay your target and disappear again."_

_I nod, understanding, but then think, "Why don't more shinobi use stealth? We teach about stealth and evasion in the Leaf Village as you know but all I've ever seen is shinobi fighting head-to-head like samurai, never any stealth."_

_Hashirama nods as well, lowering his second finger too "Indeed. That is why our brotherhood exists; we work in the dark to serve the light. Now, the final tenet. We cannot dawdle any longer, I feel the jutsu weakening." He stared me right in the eye, his Hanteigan glinting in the torchlight, "The third tenet: Never compromise the Brotherhood. The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If you are captured, if you fail in your mission, or you are being chased by your enemy, you mustn't say or do anything that harms another Assassin."_

_I nod one more time, "I understand."_

_Hashirama steps forwards slowly, leaning on his staff. I notice that he seems to be leaning more heavily on it than before. Evidently the jutsu is taxing his limits as it starts to fail. He sets his hand on my head one more time and concentrates._

_I look up into his eyes from under his hand, and he smiles at me._

_Hashirama removes his hand from my head, taking a step backwards and smiling. "It is done. In twenty-four hours my thoughts, experiences and memories will be fully integrated with your mind, and you will be an Assassin on the level of a Grand Master of the Brotherhood. From now on, Naruto, your duty is to revive the Brotherhood. You must return to Konoha, where you will speak to my grand-daughter of the Clan Resurrection Act. You will find four women who are willing to marry you for it, and train them in the arts of the Assassin Order. When they give you children, your children will also be trained." Hashirama pointed towards a door behind his throne, "The exit is there. It will take you out to the very top of the sheer mountain above us. Then you must take a leap of faith off the top into the calm part of the pool above the hideout."_

_He smiles again as his body starts to fade away, "Goodbye, Naruto. Tell my granddaughter I love her."_

_I nod, "I will. I promise!"_

_Hashirama's face is all that's left of him as he gives me one last smile, "Shikaku ni shōri o. Victory to the Assassins!"_

_I smile back, "Shikaku ni shōri o. Victory to the Assassins!"_

_-BitS-_

_I left the hideout five minutes later, after laying Hashirama's staff, the only thing left that signified he had ever been there, in a special place within the last chamber, which looked to be a mausoleum devoted to past assassins._

_I now stood upon the very brink of the mountain-top above the hideout, my new Assassin robes rippling slightly in the breeze._

_I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. I am the last of the Assassin Brotherhood, the one charged with reviving it. And I will succeed. That is a promise. And I never break promises…_

…_I am an Uzumaki, after all._

**(A/N: So what do you think? I just came up with this idea while writing Chapter Eleven of Both Sides of the Kunai, of which I now have eleven-and-a-half thousand words. I want at the very least thirteen or fourteen thousand before I post the next chapter. Anyway, drop me a review telling me what you think, and I will think about whether I want to continue this fic or not depending on your reactions. Thank you for reading, Leonineus OUT!)**


	2. The Assassin's Return

Blade in the Shadows

Chapter One: The Assassin's Return

**Two months later.**

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes, ero-sennin. I've mastered all the stuff my sensei transferred into me. I'm ready to fight. Now all I gotta do is ask baa-chan for some information on a couple of things."

"What kind of things? And for that matter, who was your sensei?"

"I'm not going to say who my sensei is until I can talk to baa-chan, since he gave me a message for her. As for what I need to ask about, I want to ask about the Clan Resurrection Act."

"Why do you want to know about that?"

"Would you happen to know the identity of my father?"

"I…"

"Well, I do. Did you know that he was the Yondaime?"

"And you know this how?"

"Sensei told me!"

"…I guess I can give you that… Anyway, let's move."

As Jiraiya of the Sannin walked on along the road towards the gates of Konohagakure no Sato, Naruto Uzumaki stopped and looked out from under his hood towards the Hokage Monument, now carven with the head of Tsunade Senju.

-BitS-

As Naruto and Jiraiya walked through the gate, smiling as they looked around the familiar village, Naruto spotted a familiar back up ahead, "Hey, Shikamaru!"

The pineapple-haired boy turned, as did his companion, who Naruto recognized as Gaara's sister Temari. "And you are?" he asked, looking curiously at the cloaked figure.

Naruto's smile faded, "You don't recognize me? Oh right, the hood."

He pushed the hood down and Shikamaru's eyes widened, "Hey, Naruto! Wasn't expecting you to be back from your training trip just yet! What's with all this stuff you're wearing?"

Naruto smirked, "Long story, maybe later. So are you two out on a date?"

Temari visibly blushed, "Are… are you… you must be joking! Why would I date this lazy baka?"

Naruto took a few steps forwards and patted the girl on the shoulder, "If that helps you sleep at night…"

She blushed even deeper and reached over her shoulder for her fan.

Naruto ducked the first swipe but blocked the second one, whipping his new combat knife/dagger up and holding it against the edge of the fan as Temari strained against it.

Finally, Naruto allowed his knife to tilt slightly so that the fan slid off it and went above his head, throwing off Temari's balance.

As soon as the girl stumbled, Naruto performed a kamiwari with her fan and pressed his blade to her neck, "Do not test me, Temari-san."

He stepped away and sheathed the knife. "I'll be seeing you, Temari-san, Shikamaru-san." He walked off.

Temari was breathing a little heavily as she walked over and collected her fan. Turning back to Shikamaru she said, "Shikamaru-kun, would you do me a favour?"

"If it's not too troublesome, what is it?"

"What kind of a guy is Naruto?"

"The troublesome kind. You'd really have to ask somebody else, maybe Sakura."

Temari watched the hooded figure disappear, a thoughtful expression on her face.

-BitS-

"Naruto? Why are you back so soon? I wasn't expecting to see you for at least two more years!"

"Yeah well we decided that after we left Uzushiogakure we'd spend another two months travelling and then return."

"You went to Uzushiogakure?"

"Yes. You're talking to the new Grand Master of the Assassin Brotherhood."

Tsunade didn't respond for a minute; she simply turned to her ANBU, "I am hereby ordering you to leave, and not breathe a word about what you just heard to anybody, understood? I will have your hide if I find that you said anything."

The ANBU stationed around the room nodded and vanished.

Naruto dropped into a chair and began to explain, starting with his first leap of faith into the whirlpool and then swimming through the underwater tunnel into the main chamber.

As he reached the end of the story, pausing for a second to activate his Hanteigan so that they could see what it looked like, before he suddenly stopped and fixed Tsunade with a smile, "Hashirama-sensei said to say that he loves you."

Tsunade's expression was so shocked it was almost comical, "You _what_?"

Naruto repeated himself patiently, "Hashirama-sensei said to say that he loves you."

Tsunade glared at him, "Naruto, my grandfather is dead. That isn't funny."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I'm not lying. Your grandfather was the last Grand Master of the Assassin Brotherhood; his brother helped him fake his own death with a wood clone in his casket to keep the heat off so he could return to Uzushiogakure, kept alive by a jutsu binding him to this plane of existence until his purpose was fulfilled."

Tsunade dropped back into her chair, staring at the door opposite as though it held the answers to life's mysteries, "Are you sure it was my grandfather, Naruto?"

Naruto folded his arms, "His exact words were, "Tell my grand-daughter I love her." He said, "I'm fairly glad my village is in the safe hands of my grand-daughter." That's when I knew who he was. According to him, his bloodline is the reason he survived so long. I think the way he phrased it was, "Much like the Uzumaki's incredible physical endurance, in fact; but that's to be expected considering the Senju and Uzumaki are actually distantly related." I guess that makes you my actual baa-chan, baa-chan."

Tsunade scowled, "Watch it brat. Now continue."

Naruto did so, "Well, after he asked me to say he loved you, the jutsu failed completely and he faded away. After that I laid his staff he'd been carrying the whole time in this mausoleum area devoted to the past Assassins inside the hideout and then left."

He chuckled quietly, "He did say, I remember, that you were the only one of either the Senju or the Uzumaki except for me at that point not to have been trained as an Assassin. Something about not having the figure for it…" He feigned innocence as Tsunade blushed, prompting a perverted giggle from the Toad Sage in the corner, which was swiftly followed by Tsunade's paperweight hitting said man in the face with a painful crunching sound.

"Alright," said Tsunade, turning back to Naruto with a look of forced calm on her face, "Would you mind telling me how he knew that I was Godaime Hokage and so on when he hadn't left that place for years?"

Naruto smirked, "You got your crystal ball nearby?"

Tsunade frowned, but picked it out of the drawer she kept it in and handed it to him. He channelled chakra into it, but nothing happened. "See?" he said, "Each of these, according to him, was attuned to the user's chakra so they had to be custom-made for each Hokage. It seems he took his with him when he left the village."

Tsunade nodded, before giving Naruto a serious look, "Do you require alternate accommodation befitting your status, or would you prefer…" but Naruto interrupted.

"Status! That reminds me! Hashirama-sensei told me that my father was the Yondaime! That means that aside from getting four wives for the Uzumaki side of things, I need _another_ four for the Namikaze clan as well!"

Jiraiya seemingly gagged on his own saliva as he heard that, before he threw himself at Naruto's feet and hugged his leg, "You have surpassed me, young apprentice!"

"Get off me you pervert!" shouted Naruto, kicking out at the white-haired pervert as he continued to wax eloquent about how proud of him he was.

Tsunade sat back in her chair and smirked as Naruto extricated his foot from Jiraiya's grip, "Well, well, well; looks like everybody's favourite blond brat is growing up!"

Naruto pouted, folding his arms grumpily before he said, "By the way, any chance I can participate in the next Chūnin Exam? I want my chūnin jacket, even if I'm probably not going to be wearing it!"

Tsunade smirked, "Well, considering how skilled I know that the Assassins of Uzushiogakure used to be, and from what you say my grandfather bequeathed his knowledge of the Assassins on you before he died, I think you more than merit it already. You will need to prove it by going on a couple of B-ranked missions with only one other person beforehand though…"

"And who is my companion on these missions then?"

Tsunade sorted through a pile of paperwork on her desk and pulled out a thick file, which she handed to Naruto.

Naruto opened it. The first thing that caught his eye was a picture of a woman with violet hair pulled back into a spiky ponytail and light brown, pupil-less eyes. He immediately recognized her as being the crazy woman who had proctored the second stage of his first Chūnin Exam, Anko Mitarashi.

Tsunade smirked, "To make it easy, wouldn't it be a good idea if you just brought in the eight women and commissioned them to be the new Assassin recruits you train?"

Naruto spluttered slightly before recovering. He had been reading over Anko's mission record inside the file. All the same, it took him a few minutes for her words to penetrate, "Let's see… seventy-two D-ranks, eighty-six C-ranks, three hundred and ninety-eight B-ranks, eighty-nine A-ranks and two S-ranks… Wait, WHAT? You must be joking, you want me to… with the crazy snake lady?"

"That isn't what I mean, Naruto. If you don't want her to join your Assassins, then she doesn't have to. All you really have to do is go with her on a couple of B-rank assassination missions and depending on how she says you did, you might get your chūnin vest." She clicked her fingers, summoning an ANBU, "Fetch me Anko Mitarashi. And I don't care if she's eating dango or not, _get her_."

-BitS-

Anko ended the room escorted by the ANBU a few seconds later, and as soon as Tsunade dismissed him he fled, whimpering piteously. The blonde Hokage scowled, "He's going to need therapy after this. Why me?"

Anko interrupted, "You called me in here and away from my dango for a gaki in a hood? You'd better not say I'm going to be training him, _Hokage-sama_, or you're never going to find his body."

Tsunade scowled, "Shut up Mitarashi, and listen. I'm giving you some B-ranked assassination missions with Naruto here so he can prove he's earned his chūnin vest. Depending on how well he does, you will report back with your findings and they had better not be biased in any way or I will personally make sure you suffer for it."

Anko nodded blankly for a minute before rounding on Naruto, "You, gaki, follow me. Where are those files? You're going to be my gopher for the next week!"

As she turned away, Naruto stood, flashing a truly evil grin at Tsunade and Shizune and adjusting his hands into a tiger seal, his index and middle fingers glowing slightly before he suddenly took a step forwards and thrust his interlinked hands forwards.

Anko Mitarashi had just taken four steps towards the open window of the office before she suddenly heard the gaki's voice behind her say, "Hidden Leaf Secret Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death!" She wasn't fast enough to avoid the blow, which was why she was almost instantly catapulted out of the window with her shapely behind on fire to the sound of laughter from the Hokage, the Hokage's assistant and the gaki himself.

"You do realize," panted Tsunade, wiping a tear from her eye as she gasped for breath, "that she is going to kill you for this, right? And she's going to do it in the most excruciatingly painful way she possibly can?"

"I know," gasped Naruto, recovering from his laughter as a furious cursing fit started outside the tower and the air started developing a bluish tint, "But it was totally worth it. By the way, it just occurred to me that I should probably move everything out of the hideout in Uzushiogakure and bring it here so that I don't have to emigrate every time I want to pick up new equipment. Do you have anywhere private and spacious I could use?"

Tsunade thought for a second, ignoring the continued torrent of assorted oaths drifting in through the window before she said, "Nowhere I can think of… why don't you…" but was interrupted by Naruto, who was grinning out the window at the Hokage Monument.

"Tsunade-baa-chan, do you remember that time when the old man Gennō tricked everybody into thinking that he was going to blow up the village?"

"Yes… what about it?"

"Well, I found him hiding out inside the Monument. It's hollow, and nobody knows that it is. It'd be the perfect place for an Assassin hideout; a few earth and wind style jutsu to hollow out chambers for weapons and such and make a staircase to the top of the Monument so we can train in the outside air, easy access to the village if we need to defend it in a hurry, it's almost perfect!"

Tsunade sat back, considering the Monument in question for a minute before she said, "Very well. You have my permission to use the hollow area behind the Monument for your purposes. You also have my permission to take a detour to Uzushiogakure on this mission to collect everything you need from the hideout there. Here are the files on your targets," she handed him a set of thick folders, much like Anko's earlier, "Now you're dismissed. I think Anko is still waiting outside the tower…"

They listened. The cursing had stopped, which wasn't a good sign. Either Anko had got bored, calmed down and wandered off, or she was silently plotting her revenge and waiting for Naruto to leave the tower before she killed him and concealed his body somewhere where nobody would ever find it again.

-BitS-

As Naruto left the tower, he thought over what he needed to do before the mission could begin in earnest. First, he would need to hit the weapons shops to get his hands on about twenty sealing scrolls for the purpose of loading up everything in the Uzushiogakure hideout. They would obviously need to be waterproof so that he didn't end up inadvertently destroying them while vacating the base with Anko.

Second, he would need to start thinking about possible girls who could join the Brotherhood. Sakura and Ino were both out; ideally he should have people who were good at healing, capture and interrogation and scouting. Ino might be good for interrogation, but she didn't really have the temperament for being an Assassin last time he had seen her. Sakura was the same; she was a more in-your-face person than anybody he'd ever met apart from most of the Inuzuka clan.

"_Hmm…" _he thought, _"Tenten would be a good choice. She has really keen eyes if the amount of ranged weaponry she uses is any indication. Hinata's Byakugan would be invaluable in the event that we need prior information as to where a target is…"_

He walked into the village, searching for a shinobi supply shop from which he could secure some sealing scrolls **(A/N: Try saying THAT five times fast!)**, and finally came across a shop called Takeshi Wares.

Pushing the door open, he heard a voice say, "Welcome to Takeshi Wares! How may I help you today?"

Naruto looked towards the counter and saw Tenten sitting behind it. When she saw him she suddenly stood up straight and said, "Hi Naruto, what do you need?"

Naruto walked up to the desk and placed both hands palms-down on the counter, unwittingly displaying his missing digit to the brunette, who grabbed his wrist, "What happened to your finger?"

Naruto tugged his hand out of her grip, "It's ok, Tenten."

She stared at him, "Naruto, you lost a finger. That isn't good."

Naruto smirked, "Better a finger than a leg, right?"

Tenten shook her head in slight disbelief at the way the blond was treating what should be a serious injury, but then she noticed the rest of what he was wearing, "What's all this?"

Naruto looked down, "This? It's just something I picked up." He noticed the girl was drooling slightly as she eyed the crossbow on his back.

"Uhh, Tenten?" He waved a hand in front of her face for a second before she seemed to come back to herself, reaching towards the crossbow with her fingers twitching.

"Can I please test it? Please, Naruto?"

Naruto tried to say no, but the girl's eyes seemed to grow to enormous proportions and glisten slightly with tears as she gave him what he could only describe as the ultimate puppy-dog look. Add in a slightly quivering lip and a faint, pitiful sniffle to the equation and Naruto could almost feel his heartstrings being mercilessly plucked like a harp. Before he knew what he was doing he was handing her the crossbow along with the quiver of bolts.

Tenten giggled like a little girl before she reached under the counter and picked up a small bell, which she placed on the counter before heading through the back door to test out the crossbow. Naruto, not wanting to lose his crossbow to the weapons mistress, followed her.

Tenten nocked a bolt into the crossbow and took aim at a target at the other end of the yard. A faint _twang_ sound reverberated through the air and the bolt buried itself dead centre of the target.

Tenten gave another giggle, this one marginally less innocent and rather more maniacal before turning to Naruto and saying, "You know, if you're going to be carrying out long-distance kills with this thing, then you might want to imbue the bolts with chakra so that they dissolve after a minute. That way it leaves no obvious trace of who carried out the kill."

Naruto gaped at the girl for a moment before he hugged her, "You're a genius, Tenten."

Tenten blushed pink as he hugged her before he stepped back and retrieved his crossbow and quiver from her. She pointed at the crossbow as he hung it back on his back and clipped the quiver onto his belt, "So can I join up?"

"To what, Tenten?"

She pointed at the emblem on the front of his belt, "The Assassins."

Naruto grabbed her wrist and dragged her back into the shop, where he flipped the sign to CLOSED and rounded on her, "How do you know about that?"

Tenten pouted, rubbing her wrist slightly. Naruto stared back at her, his eyes unreadable. Tenten finally sighed and said, "Everybody knows about my weapons craze, but in my spare time I also like to research obscure organizations in the past. The Assassins of Uzushiogakure kept cropping up, but I could never find anything concrete on them."

Naruto leaned back against the wall, taking care not to put his weight on his crossbow or he might end up crushing it, "Tenten…"

"What? It's not like I'd breathe a word about anything important I happened to learn!"

"That's not what I'm talking about. Being an Assassin requires certain sacrifices on your part."

"What kind of sacrifices?"

Naruto held up his hand and flexed his wrist, causing his hidden blade to eject. Then he curled his fingers into a fist, taking care to show her how the blade fitted into the hollow where his ring finger had once been, "You see why I lost my left ring finger now? To be an Assassin requires you to take a vow and make a sacrifice of your own to ensure your loyalty before you can join."

Tenten shrugged, "Since when have I needed my ring finger? After I broke up with Neji it's not like I'm going to find a guy who's willing to put a ring on it any time soon."

"Which brings me to my second complaint about joining. Do you know what the Clan Resurrection Act is, Tenten?"

Everything fell into place for Tenten, "Oh, I see. You need to find up to four girls who will be willing to marry you so you can revive the Uzumaki clan and the Assassin Brotherhood!"

Naruto gave her a small smile, "Close. I actually need eight. Turns out my father had a clan of his own."

Tenten raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Who was your father?

Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the window. Tenten glanced over said shoulder, seeing his thumb pointing directly at the Fourth Hokage's face on the Monument above.

"Hmm," she mused, "Yes, I can see the resemblance. Oh well. So, what do you need me to do?"

Naruto smiled, "Well I originally came here today to pick up about twenty sealing scrolls. I want to remove everything from the Assassin hideout in the ruins of Uzushiogakure and bring it to Konoha. I already know where I'm going to set up here."

Tenten ran behind the counter and gathered up twenty sealing scrolls, stacking them in a neat pile on the counter. "Thanks," said Naruto, pulling his wallet out of his belt pouch, "How much do I owe you?"

Tenten folded her arms, "Pay me back by training me in the arts of the Assassins. Considering I practically run this place myself in order to keep my parents' treatments going in the hospital, I need money desperately. Pulling off assassination missions with you would probably be a very good idea."

Naruto patted her shoulder as he gathered up the sealing scrolls and sealed them all into one, which he put in his pocket, "It is ok, Tenten. Now, I'm going out of town to pull off a couple of B-rank assassinations to prove myself worthy of my chūnin vest, so I'll be back in about a week. See you Tenten, and thanks for the sealing scrolls."

As he headed for the door, Tenten called after him, "Wait! Do you have any other girls you're planning on allowing to join the Brotherhood yet?"

Naruto turned back and said, "Ideally I want people who can specialize. Hinata's Byakugan would be good for gathering information, and her Jyūken would be good for capturing a target to interrogate at a later date."

Tenten chuckled, "It's nothing to do with the fact she has a crush on you, right?"

Naruto stared at her, "She does?"

Tenten face-faulted, "Baka! Didn't you ever wonder why the girl blushes and stutters like crazy whenever you're around?"

Naruto shrugged, "I thought she was just weird."

Tenten palmed her face for a second before she asked, "Anybody else you have in mind?"

"There is this one woman called Anko Mitarashi, you might've heard of her."

"Yeah, she buys all her kunai and shuriken supplies from here. She's one of my best customers, when I'm here that is."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow in the girl's direction, "When you're here? Why don't you have an assistant?"

"Because I can't _pay_ for an assistant. This place only nets me enough ryō to pay for my parents' treatments and even then I have to tighten my belt considerably in order to keep myself going."

Naruto turned back to her, "Tenten, you know what my speciality is? If you needed an assistant who'd be willing to work without pay, you should've just asked and I'd have a clone ready in an instant!"

Tenten actually hurdled the counter and hugged him so tightly she knocked him flat on his back. "Thank you, Naruto!"

Naruto patted her back gently a few times, "It's nothing Tenten…"

The bun-haired girl eventually got off Naruto, wiping her eyes slightly to erase the evidence that her emotions had, for once, got the better of her. After a second, she raised her hands to her neck and removed a small necklace, which she handed to Naruto, "So you remember your promise."

Naruto smiled quietly, hanging the necklace around his neck and tucking it under his clothes, "I promise. Goodbye Tenten, see you in about a week!"

Tenten nodded, before she suddenly darted forwards and planted a kiss on his cheek, before blushing and shepherding him to the door.

Naruto smiled as the door closed behind him and the sign flipped back to OPEN, before he formed a gang of clones and dispatched them in different directions to locate Anko Mitarashi.

-BitS-

"Anko!" he shouted, having eventually located her on a training ground, "Hey! We gotta get going now!"

Several kunai and shuriken thudded into the tree next to him. To his credit, Naruto didn't bat an eye; he'd been expecting worse reactions after he used A Thousand Years of Death on her in Tsunade's office. However, being smarter since the assimilation of Hashirama's knowledge, Naruto had created a steady stream of clones and sent them after her, allowing her to vent her spleen on them before he finally deemed her calm enough for him to approach in person.

Anko was huddled at the foot of a tree, brooding quietly. "Cut that out, you look like Sasuke-teme and it's making me depressed just looking at you."

Anko scowled up at him, but there was no real heart in it. "What's the problem?" said Naruto, crouching opposite her.

"Get lost gaki, before I wound you."

"No," said Naruto, "I'm not leaving until you tell me what the problem is. We're going to be team-mates for this mission, and part of being a good team-mate is being there for them when they're down. I learnt that from Kakashi-sensei."

Anko sighed, knowing he wasn't going to leave just because she told him to. Naruto poked her arm, "Speak up, come on."

Anko scowled, flinging a kunai at him. He caught it between his fingers, "Nice try. Do you want to fight if that'll make you feel better?"

Anko leapt up, drawing more kunai into her hands. Naruto yanked out his combat knife into his right hand and extended his hidden blade from his left. Anko's eyes followed it, "Oh, is that how you lost your finger? Practicing with that thing?"

Naruto frowned, curling his hand into a fist so that she could see how the blade slotted into the gap left by his missing finger. He pointed it at her, "Ready?"

Anko smirked widely, "Ready!"

-BitS-

Fifteen minutes later, Anko was lying on her back on the ground, barely able to move because she was so exhausted. Naruto had run her into the ground. Now he leaned over and said, "Calmed down yet?"

Anko scowled up at him, "How the hell… are you… so energetic? It shouldn't be… possible!"

Naruto shrugged, "Comes from having a big fluffy beastie with nine tails stuck in my gut."

"_**GET IN HERE AND CALL ME FLUFFY TO MY FACE YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BASTARD!" **_Naruto heard the fox roar in the back of his mind.

Ignoring its continued cursing, Naruto pulled Anko upright as she said, "So where'd you learn all that?"

Naruto tapped his forehead, "It's all up here. Assassins learn stuff on top of their standard shinobi training. That's the reason I was able to hold out against you so well."

Anko straightened up, scowling, "How did you learn all this?

Naruto smirked, "I picked it up from an old friend of the family; a _very_ old friend of the family. Would you like to learn?"

Anko frowned, "There's a catch, isn't there?"

Naruto gave a nervous laugh, "Why would there be a catch?"

Anko gripped him by the front of his outfit, "_What is the catch_?"

Naruto winced, "As I'm the last scion of two noble clans, one of Konoha and one of Uzushio, I need to take eight wives before I turn eighteen."

Anko leaned down over him, displaying her ample cleavage and smirking as she watched him try to force down a sudden urge to have a nosebleed, "Mind if I join up?"

Naruto shrugged, "If you're willing to be one of my wives, I'm actually fine with that."

"Ok," said Anko cheerfully, sticking out a hand, "Truce?"

Naruto took the hand in question, "Truce."

Naruto tugged the thick files on their targets out of his belt pouch as they sat back down under the tree and set them on the ground, opening one of them as Anko picked up another.

The truce had been settled, and the first members of the Assassin Brotherhood had been found.

-BitS-

"Ano… you wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Hinata Hyūga said, bowing to the Slug Sannin behind the desk.

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and smiled at the Hyūga heiress, "Yes, Hinata. I want to ask you a couple of questions."

When Hinata didn't respond, she continued, "You know how much I care for Naruto, as he's like my little brother used to be. What I want to ask you is, would you be willing to join a small group under Naruto's command, something like the hunter-nin of Kirigakure?"

Hinata looked up. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; _Naruto was back_?

Tsunade seemed to read her mind, "Yes, Naruto is back. However he is just about to go out on a mission to prove that he is worthy of a chūnin promotion. Once he returns, the group will be formed, alright?"

Hinata nodded, then a question struck her, "Who else is in the group?"

Tsunade shook her head, "I don't know. Naruto said he had a couple of people in mind, but I'm not sure who they are."

Hinata nodded before she suddenly said, "There's something else, isn't there?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes. Because Naruto is the last member of both his father's and mother's clans, he needs to marry eight women to revive both clans."

Hinata went bright red as what Tsunade was implying hit her, "You… you want me to… to…"

Tsunade nodded, before smirking and turning to Shizune, "Cough up!"

Shizune sighed and handed the blonde woman fifteen ryō, "Fine, you win. She only fainted after you told her she might be eligible to marry Naruto."

Tsunade smirked again, before her face suddenly fell and she turned to look out the window towards the gates of Konoha.

"Tsunade-sama, is there something wrong?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade swallowed, "I'm worried… Naruto might get hurt on these B-ranks. I know he's much stronger now, but all the same…"

Shizune smiled, "He'll be fine. He's Naruto, after all. Even if he does get injured he just gets back up and starts fighting again."

Tsunade nodded, still not convinced.

-BitS-

Naruto and Anko stood facing each other in front of the main gate of Konoha.

"So," said Anko, "are you ready?"

Naruto smirked, pulling up his hood and the mask which hung around his neck so that it covered up to his eyes, "I'm ready. Let's roll."

The two shinobi turned to face the gate, and sped off, leaving only a couple of clouds of dust in their wake.

**(A/N: So what do you think of this chapter? I hope you enjoyed it. Three of the girls in the Brotherhood have been revealed, with the other five coming. Here's a hint: none of the other five are from Konoha! Next chapter will be the detour to Uzushiogakure and the assassinations themselves. By the way, I have 1.6k words on the next chapter of Kunai and 5.9k to the next chapter of Jutsu, also I have a NarutoxHinataxShion oneshot in the works. Fortunately, I have an insane ability to multitask so you never know; I might have all three out very soon! So until next time, I'll see you then. Thank you for reading! Leonineus, OUT!)**


	3. Rebirth of the Brotherhood

Blade in the Shadows

Chapter 2: Rebirth of the Brotherhood

**(A/N: Ok, before I continue this story I feel I should mention that this takes place before Assassin's Creed 1, therefore Leonardo da Vinci cannot have modified the Hidden Blade already, unless you want me to turn this into some horribly clichéd time travel sub-plot. As such, your complaints that Naruto didn't need to remove his ring finger are pointless, and as for the complaints that he just sacrificed his ability to perform jutsu, I checked Narutopedia's article on hand seals and there are only about one or two handseals that require all your fingers. Plus, we are shown numerous examples within Naruto canon that with sufficient practice, a shinobi may either use one-handed seals (for example, Haku in the Land of Waves Arc) or dispense with the handseals altogether. For example, the Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu normally requires forty-four hand seals before the jutsu may be used, yet during the Invasion of Konoha the Nidaime Hokage only uses one single-handed seal. That is what I MIGHT end up doing; having Naruto learn how to use his various jutsu with only one hand seal. For example, he only needs the cross seal for Kage Bunshin and the Rasengan, Rasenshuriken, Rasenrengan, etc require no hand seals at all. Now that my frustrated rant is over, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!)**

Naruto and Anko stood side-by-side, looking down into the chasm, at the bottom of which was the huge whirlpool that hid the hideout.

Anko turned to Naruto, "You are officially crazy, gaki."

Naruto shrugged, "I've been told before."

Anko smirked, "Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy." **(A/N: The first person to correctly identify this quote, who says it, where and when (if you can) gets a virtual cookie!)**

Naruto smirked back, "Let's go then."

He walked forwards onto the ledge and readied himself. Anko watched carefully as he bent his legs, tucked in his arms, and then propelled himself off the ledge and plunged towards the whirlpool.

Anko followed a minute later. She landed in a pool of water at the bottom of the whirlpool. Glancing back up at the seething walls which she now realized were held back by some kind of very powerful fūinjutsu, she muttered, "I'm fairly certain this violates the laws of gravity somehow…"

Naruto, who was floating nearby, shrugged, "I dunno how that thing actually works. All I can say is that it must be dead powerful sealing work if it's keeping back that much water _and_ sustaining the whirlpool all at once."

They swam through a tunnel, holding their breath for most of the way since the majority was underwater, before they finally emerged inside the chamber that Naruto remembered from the first time he had been here..

Climbing from the water and waiting a second for the seals embroidered into his clothing to dry them out, he turned and hauled Anko out of the water.

They proceeded into the main hall, where Naruto tossed the sealing scroll filled with sealing scrolls to Anko while he walked over to the mausoleum.

Standing in front of Hashirama's staff, he pressed a hand to his heart and bowed his head slightly, offering a silent prayer to the Kami for his sensei's soul.

He left the mausoleum to find that Anko had already sealed a large amount of stuff into the sealing scrolls. She had evidently gone for the "take everything, that way you can miss nothing" approach, since even the throne that Hashirama had sat on and the table beside it were gone.

Naruto assisted Anko with sealing all the Assassin uniforms, but he dealt with the armoury himself. When he left the armoury carrying the sealing scroll containing everything, he found that Anko had donned an Assassin outfit and was checking herself in the full-length mirror. "How do I look?"

Naruto smirked, seeing a prank in the making, "Excellent. Now can you unseal that table from the main chamber? We have to detach your ring finger."

Anko's startled look over her shoulder caused Naruto to burst out laughing; at least until he felt a large snake wrapping itself around his leg and immediately stopped laughing. "I'm joking; we won't have to remove your ring finger until you've actually been trained in our ways."

Anko scowled at him before he said, "You'll get your weapons when we return to Konoha; this is meant to be my mission to prove I'm worthy of being a chūnin, as such I will carry out the assassinations, ok? Don't look at me like that; you're not helping other than providing distractions. I can do it myself."

Anko sighed, looking bored as Naruto beckoned to her and they headed out of the hideout.

-BitS-

**Three days later, Land of Rice Fields, unofficial headquarters of the Fūma clan.**

"Hello, Naruto-kun," said a soft voice.

Naruto and Anko whipped around. Before them stood a young girl with long strawberry blonde locks and deep brown eyes. Naruto blinked, "Sasame?"

Sasame Fūma's smile widened, "It _is_ you! How are you?"

Naruto turned to her, "I'm fine, been busy."

Sasame looked him up and down, "You've grown. But where are my manners, would you like a cup of tea?"

Naruto glanced at Anko, who shrugged, so he said "That'd be nice, thank you."

Sasame nodded and caught his hand, dragging him along with her.

-BitS-

Five minutes later, Naruto and Anko were sitting across from the strawberry blonde girl as she poured them tea. "So what brings you to the Land of Rice Fields, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shrugged, "On a mission. The Hokage wants some of Oto's biggest fish dead."

Sasame frowned, "Who? We might be able to help you. The Fūma clan owe you a debt, Naruto-kun."

Naruto frowned, "They do?

She nodded, "If you recall, you saved us from Orochimaru's predations last time by razing his base here."

Naruto shook his head, "Not quite. Oto still stands, and until that falls, your people won't be safe."

Sasame shook her head, her strawberry locks swinging slightly, "No, I admit that's true, but all the same you did give us a decent respite."

Something occurred to Naruto then, "Actually, Sasame-chan, I want to ask you a quick question. You know your secret jutsu; the one which connects two people's hearts together and then stops both when one dies?"

Sasame nodded, "Yes… if I recall, Kagerō used it on you and I saved your life by giving your friend Sakura the tag needed to cut the threads."

Naruto nodded, "Well, could it possibly be modified to keep a person's heart beating through something like surgery?"

Sasame stared at him for a long moment before a smile split her face, "Yes, it could. Why did we never think of that?"

Naruto folded his arms, "You see, Sasame-chan, your clan needs somewhere safe to be, and your secret clan jutsu could be invaluable to the medical community. Also, Konoha's been short on decent shinobi since the Sound invaded."

Sasame tilted her head to one side, "What's your point, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled, "If your clan has no special links to the Land of Rice Fields, then why don't you migrate to Konoha? I'm sure baa-chan would be happy to let you join up."

Sasame stared at him for a very long moment this time before she clapped her hands together and said, "What a fantastic idea! Let me go talk to our clan head." She slipped off her chair and ran from the room.

Anko rounded on Naruto, "Why are you doing this?"

Naruto shrugged, "We need them to be able to get inside Oto so we can pull off the assassinations. They know where it is; we don't. Plus, it's a good idea, isn't it? If every surgery team in Konoha hospital had a Fūma on hand using that jutsu to keep the patient alive, then we could do operations and so on without worrying about them dying in the middle of it."

"But what if they do? The way I see it, it goes both ways. If the patient died, so would the Fūma."

"I didn't think of that. Well if they agree to go back to Konoha, then we can see about modifying the jutsu so that it doesn't kill the Fūma using it if the patient dies."

"You mentioned that they need special seals to sever the chakra threads linking their hearts. Wouldn't it be a good idea if each Fūma carried one of them so that they could cut off the jutsu if the patient were dying?"

"Maybe, maybe… ah, here's Sasame-chan again."

Sasame entered at that moment, pulling a tall man by the hand. He fixed Naruto with a hard stare, "Sasame tells me you're the kid who razed Orochimaru's base here a year or so ago?"

Naruto nodded, "That's right."

The man sat down on the couch opposite and grinned, "I am Hanzaki, leader of the Fūma clan. So, what's this proposal that Sasame seemed so excited about?"

Naruto explained, and Hanzaki thought about it for a long minute. Finally he said, "And you're sure that the Hokage would be fine with this?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes. After I delivered my report on the mission I was on last time, she seemed very interested in the jutsu used on me. Though it might just have been because I was in danger from it, she cares a lot about me."

Hanzaki leaned forwards to look Naruto in the eye, "Very well. You raise a very good point, young man."

Naruto smiled, "I'll send a message to baa-chan to explain. I'm confident she'd be happy to have a new clan in Konoha but I'd still like to warn her you're coming, just in case."

He flashed through handseals and slammed his right hand onto the floor, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A medium-sized orange toad appeared, **"Hey, Naruto! Got any candy?"**

Sasame giggled.

Naruto shook his head, "Not right now, Gamakichi, but I promise I'll get you some. I need you to take a message to baa-chan. Can you tell her that I managed to negotiate with the Fūma clan in the Land of Rice Fields, and they're coming to Konoha to join up?"

Gamakichi nodded, **"Alright. See you soon, Naruto. Remember your promise to get me candy!"**

Naruto smirked, "Just go already."

The small toad vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sasame looked at Naruto and Anko, "Would you two like to stay the night? It's getting a little dark out. You can continue your mission in the morning."

Naruto shook his head, "We don't really have time to waste. You never know when…" but he trailed off as Sasame proceeded to give him the same kind of heartstring-plucking puppy dog look that Tenten had given him a few days before. In exasperation he said, "Gah! Stop doing that, it's not fair! How can anybody resist that look?" A second later he noticed Anko doing it as well, "Don't you start too!"

A few seconds passed in which Hanzaki's shoulders shuddered as he tried to repress the urge to laugh, before Naruto threw his hands in the air, "Fine! I'll stay!"

Instantly Sasame was all smiles as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room. Anko paused as she made to follow, looking at Hanzaki before her, "You're doing this for another reason than Orochimaru, aren't you?"

The tall man smiled wryly, "That boy may be a hero to my clan for erasing the threat of Orochimaru, but he's not half stupid. He didn't even notice last time when it was actually obvious that little Sasame-chan had a massive crush on him. I mean, he comforted her when she was majorly upset about Arashi, protected her from the rogue Fūma who joined Orochimaru and then almost died for her. How couldn't she develop a crush on him after that? In all honesty, this is the happiest I've seen that girl since he left the last time. If joining the Leaf village is what it takes to keep her smiling like that, I'll happily do it. Now you should go catch up with him, before Sasame does something to him."

Anko chuckled and left the room.

-BitS-

Tsunade was lying with her head on her desk, fast asleep, when a fair-sized orange toad appeared on the desk next to her. It stared at her for a long moment before flicking out its long tongue and hitting her on the nose.

Tsunade jerked awake, swiping at a phantom attacker, and blinked sleepy honey brown eyes down at the toad, "Gamakichi?"

Gamakichi nodded, "I've got a message from Naruto. He says…"

Tsunade listened sleepily to the message, before she suddenly jerked wide awake and yelled for Shizune. Things were about to get heated up, and as her assistant barrelled through the door to listen for herself, Tsunade wondered, not for the first time, why she had come back to the village in the first place.

-BitS-

Naruto woke up the next morning to find Sasame bending over him. With a muffled yelp of fright, he scrambled back against the wall while pulling the covers up over his bare chest. Sasame gave him a small smile before rounding on Anko, who stood in the doorway grinning. With a faint scowl, Sasame walked over to Anko and handed her several ryō notes.

Naruto blinked at the two women, "Would you mind leaving? I need to change."

Anko gave him a small smile, "If you recall, you were the one who invited me to join your little group as well as eventually become your…"

Naruto leapt upright, "Hey!"

Sasame gave him a curious look, "Eventually become your what?"

Naruto sighed, "Thanks, Anko." He turned to Sasame, "Back in Konoha, I'm under the Clan Resurrection Act, meaning that as the head of two clans, both of which end with me and me alone, I have to marry a total of eight women to continue both lines."

Sasame smirked, "Sounds like a problem and a half. So you're currently looking for people to join?"

Naruto glanced around at her, "Why, you petitioning for a position?" He smirked as the girl went red, "I take that as being a yes."

Sasame's stammers were cut off as Anko dragged her out of the room so that Naruto could change; which he did, chuckling to himself the whole time.

-BitS-

Sasame decided she wanted to accompany them on the incursion into Oto territory as they needed a guide, and once Hanzaki agreed they set off. As they waved goodbye, the man threw them three Sound hitai-ate. "So you can get in without being found out too quickly."

Naruto thanked Hanzaki and began to walk away with Anko and Sasame flanking him.

As soon as they were out of sight of the village, Naruto stopped and pulled out a sealing scroll, unsealing an Assassin uniform. "Sasame-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you want to join this group?"

Sasame was quiet for a long moment before she nodded, "Yes. Yes I am."

Naruto smiled, pointing towards a tree, "Go change into this. As of now, you're an Assassin recruit."

Sasame walked away and soon returned in the outfit. Her orange bangs hung down out of the hood which disguised her features.

-BitS-

The trio arrived at what Sasame specified as being the entrance to the Oto base and displayed their stolen Sound hitai-ate in order to gain entrance. The bored-looking guard let them in without a second glance.

Soon, they crouched in an empty room, talking quietly amongst themselves. Naruto had read through the files Tsunade had given them and committed the pictures to memory.

Now he walked slowly through the crowds of shinobi, drawing closer to his first target. Slipping up behind him, he extended his poison blade and jabbed the man in the thigh, right into the femoral artery, before retracting the blade straight out of the wound and moving away.

As he walked off down the corridor, he heard the man start to feel the effects. Before he had collapsed and begun to choke on his own bile, however, Naruto was already gone into the crowds.

Back in the room, he described the assassination to Anko and Sasame; Anko taking notes for her final report when they returned to Konoha. Finally she sat back and said, "Two more and then we can vacate the premises."

Naruto nodded, "I'd like you two to help me with the last one. I want to send a message; a message that Orochimaru isn't safe. There are people hunting him now."

Anko smirked, "What kind of message?"

Naruto smirked; his normally cheerful grin now containing a hint of bloodthirstiness as he looked between the two women, "I want you two to throw down smoke bombs on my signal. I'll take the opportunity to strike down the target and then we run for the exit. Sasame, do you think you can do that?"

The orange-haired kunoichi frowned for a second before nodding, "Yes."

Naruto smiled, "Excellent. Now if you don't mind, I'm going out to track down the second guy I need to kill."

Naruto located the second guy three corridors west of their current hideout. In a brief movement, he stepped past the man, thrust his hidden blade into his kidney and then retracted it sharply before continuing on his way, again disappearing into the crowd before anybody knew what had happened.

Returning to the room, they waited for the heat to cool off before heading out again.

Now the three of them walked down a corridor, the two women carrying a stock of smoke bombs to throw by the walls and Naruto striding down the centre, his eyes on his target twenty feet ahead.

Raising one hand, he curled it into a fist. The signal was immediately answered as eight smoke bombs, four from either side, arced through the air and exploded, shrouding the entire hallway in thick clouds. Naruto activated his Washigan and broke into a run.

The man that was being (unknowingly) stalked turned around when he heard explosions behind him and saw clouds of smoke before him, but then a hooded figure exploded out of them and raised his arm.

He had just enough time to see a foot-long spike project from under the attacker's wrist before he felt a sharp pain in his neck and everything went black.

Naruto retracted the blade and stood up before shouting to his cohorts, "We're golden, let's bail!"

He heard two responses before springing over the corpse and heading for where he knew the exit was located, pulling his combat blade into his hand as he ran.

Sasame and Anko followed, emulating him and drawing their own blades.

The three Assassins sprinted through the corridors, dodging around Sound-nins and striking any stupid enough to get in their way. Finally, they spotted the thick metal doors ahead of them. Naruto drew back his left hand, "Rasengan!" and slammed it into the panelling as they reached the doors.

The doors exploded outwards, their twisted metal facets collapsing onto the ground in a cacophony of noise before Naruto signalled again.

As the Sound-nins pursuing them reached the opening to the outside, they saw the three hooded and cloaked strangers disappear in swirls of leaves.

-BitS-

Naruto, Anko and Sasame landed in a small copse of trees, Sasame peeling away from Anko. She had latched onto the woman since she did not actually know her own shunshin. Naruto had learnt it from Jiraiya during his year's absence.

"You two did very well today," commented Naruto, "Soon we can have you pulling off your own assassinations!"

Anko smirked, "I already…"

"…like a _real_ Assassin." Naruto finished, smirking back.

-BitS-

In Konoha, numerous people felt a sudden and irrational surge of doom pass above their heads.

-BitS-

**Four days later.**

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork (which she was currently suppressing the urge to burn) as a chūnin, one of the two on permanent assignment guarding her office door, poked his head in, "Um, Hokage-sama? Uzumaki-san and Mitarashi-san are back, and they seem to have brought a lot of people with them.

Tsunade walked to her door and came out. As soon as she exited the building, she found Naruto and Anko (now wearing an Assassin outfit) standing at the head of a large crowd.

Naruto gave her a sheepish grin as he pushed back his hood and scratched the back of his head, "Hehe… told you the Fūma clan were coming, didn't I?"

-BitS-

It took quite a while to get the Fūma clan settled in, but eventually they were set up in the Uchiha compound (which Tsunade had shouted down the council about, seeing as there were now no loyal Uchiha in the village) and Konoha hitai-ate had been distributed, with the promise of a meeting between Tsunade and Hanzaki to discuss what the Fūma could do.

Naruto, Anko and Sasame had also been busy. They had been cleaning up the caverns inside the Hokage Monument and setting everything up. A group of ANBU had also been brought in (and sworn to secrecy by Tsunade) to cut a passage down from the top of the Monument as well as hollow out rooms for things to be stored in.

The three Assassins had then begun unsealing everything and arraying it out, drilling holes for hooks to hang the drapes on, and everything else that would be needed to set up the new Assassin hideout.

Finally, after everything was set up; the weapon racks had been unsealed and arrayed out in the armoury; the spare Assassin outfits had been set out in the new "walk-in wardrobe", there being nothing else to really call it; and they had finally dragged the enormous throne and accompanying bench complete with cleaver into position against the back wall; Naruto wandered into said walk-in wardrobe following a train of thought.

The memories and information he had been given by Hashirama-sensei told him that as the new Grand Master of the Assassins, he had to wear different robes to the rest of them. While they all wore white, he had to wear black.

Now, he inspected his new Assassin garb, pulling gently on the fabric of the hood and mask hung around his neck before pulling the hood up.

"You look good," said a voice behind him.

Naruto turned to see Sasame in the doorway. He nodded at her, "Yeah. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going. Baa-chan mentioned she had a new recruit for me and I promised Tenten-chan that I'd fetch her when I got back so we could start training."

Sasame nodded, "Fine. I'll just talk to Anko-chan until you get back."

Naruto nodded, "You do that." He headed for the exit.

-BitS-

To say that Tenten was keen to get in on an organization that she had only read about would have been an understatement. She had been practically vibrating with excitement for the last week.

As such, when Naruto walked back in through her door with her necklace swinging from his fingers and grinning as though he'd just won the lottery, she was hard-pressed to stop herself leaping on him.

Naruto smiled at the brunette as he came through the door, before tossing her the necklace, "Here. Close up shop, you're coming with me!"

The girl moved so fast Naruto could've sworn she used some kind of shunshin that moved faster than the speed of sound. One second she was standing behind the counter, next second the CLOSED sign had been flipped over, the metal shutters stopping people from busting the windows to get in had been lowered and she was standing next to Naruto with an eager expression on her face.

Naruto blinked once before shaking his head, "Let's go then."

-BitS-

Tsunade had sent an ANBU with details of Naruto's new recruit, so he headed over to the Hyūga estate with Tenten in tow.

At the gates, he cast the guards a single look before saying, "Naruto Uzumaki here to see Hinata Hyūga on Hokage's orders."

The men glared at him before one decided (unwisely) to spit at Naruto's feet, "Yeah, like the Hokage would have any orders for a demon like you!"

Naruto's eyes flashed an ominous red and he radiated enough killing intent for both men to start sweating. After a long minute, he suppressed the urge to kill and said, in a deceptively calm tone, "I will ask one more time before the shit hits the fan… allow me to enter the compound so that I may speak to Hinata Hyūga _right now_ or you will both suffer some kind of horrible, ghastly prank. You do remember my speciality, _right_?"

Thoughts of insane amounts of clones beating the crap out of them with large bats spinning around their heads, the two guards were practically falling over themselves to get the gates open for Naruto and Tenten.

Tenten couldn't help but giggle as the pair entered the main compound to find Hiashi and Neji Hyūga sparring.

Naruto knew the two men would have seen them arrive with their Byakugan, so he and Tenten waited patiently for them to finish.

Finally, Hiashi held up a hand to halt his sparring partner and turned to face them, "Uzumaki, Takeshi."

Naruto nodded back at Neji before addressing the clan head, "May I speak to Hinata? I'm here because the Hokage asked her to join a new group under my command and she needs to begin her training."

Hiashi gave him an inscrutable look before beckoning to him and turning away. Naruto turned to Tenten, "Would you mind explaining the situation to Neji? I think Hinata-chan's father may need a little persuading."

Tenten nodded before approaching her team-mate and engaging him in conversation. Naruto headed after Hiashi.

-BitS-

Naruto followed Hiashi into what was evidently the man's study and waited patiently for him to close the door. As soon as the door was closed, the man started on him, "I heard nothing of this group being formed, and being on the Council I ought to. Tell me why I ought not to toss you out on your ear for seemingly lying to me, Uzumaki."

Naruto kept his face impassive, "Send a messenger to the Hokage if you don't believe me, but the fact remains that the Hokage already asked Hinata if she would consent to join my group and she said yes."

Hiashi scowled before rounding on the Branch Hyūga standing in the corner and snapping, "Get Hinata, now!"

The Branch Hyūga ran from the room. Naruto allowed a momentary scowl to cross his features before schooling his face back into the impassive mask.

There was a pause, in which Naruuto simply started at the opposite wall and Hiashi rummaged through a bookcase behind his desk, before the door reopened and Hinata entered, followed by the Branch Hyūga, "You summoned me, father?"

Hiashi growled at the girl, almost causing Naruto to approach her and put a hand on her arm, which wouldn't have been a good idea, "_He_ tells me," he jabbed a finger at Naruto, who nodded to Hinata when she turned to see him, "that you consented for the Hokage to place you in a new group under his command, is that true?"

Hinata nodded, "Yes, it is. She also asked me…" but broke off.

Hiashi scowled as he realized that his daughter was hiding something, "I order you to tell me, Hinata. What else did the Hokage ask you?"

Naruto stepped in as the girl reverted to her old habits and started stammering, "As the last scion of two clans, I have been placed under the Clan Resurrection Act. The Hokage, worried that the civilian council might force wives on me that might actively try to kill me in my sleep, approached Hinata knowing her prior feelings towards me and asked her if she would consent. Hinata agreed."

Hiashi actually showed a brief flicker of being startled before he regained control of his emotions, "And what clans, pray tell, are these you speak of?"

Naruto gave him a sardonic look, "You already know my last name, but does the name Minato Namikaze mean anything to you?"

Once again, Hiashi Hyūga was caught on the hop. His pale eyes widened slightly before he frowned, "Yes, I see the resemblance now. So you are his son…"

"Yes," said Naruto shortly.

"Very well, who else is in this little group then?"

"Tenten Takeshi, Sasame Fūma from the clan that just joined the village, and Anko Mitarashi… and before you say anything against her remember that much like I am not what I keep contained, just because she had the misfortune to be taught by the snake bastard does not mean that she _is_ the snake bastard. Anko Mitarashi is as loyal to Konoha as you or I."

Hiashi stared him down for a long moment before sighing and throwing his hands in the air, "Just go. Take Hinata, train her, do what you want."

Naruto smiled, "Thank you," before turning to Hinata, "Pack up your gear, Hinata. You're coming with me!"

As Hinata nodded and hurried out, Hiashi suddenly turned back and said, what kind of group is this anyway?"

Naruto turned back, smirking under his hood which he had just pulled back up, "Something like the hunter-nins of Kirigakure, except very much different."

He didn't wait for a response, just walked straight out of the study and headed back towards the training area to pick up Tenten.

-BitS-

As soon as Hinata had returned carrying a small pack, the three of them set off, bidding goodbye to Neji as they left.

Halfway to the Hokage Monument, Naruto glanced around at Tenten, "Tenten, why are your parents in the hospital, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tenten gave him a quick glance and remained silent. Naruto nodded, understanding that the brunette didn't want to talk about it.

-BitS-

Back in the hideout, Naruto gave the two new girls the tour (almost having to drag Tenten out of the armoury) before escorting them into the walk-in wardrobe and politely waiting outside while the two girls changed.

When the two girls walked back out, he sent clones to find Anko and Sasame (the former was found, predictably, chewing her way through a few sticks of dango and the latter was found with her clan in the Uchiha district).

Once all four were gathered on top of the Monument, Naruto created a dozen clones of himself (noting that some handseals were a little more difficult since he was missing his finger, he immediately resolved to start learning one-handed seals like Haku had used or just learning how to dispense with the seals altogether) before turning to the four girls, "This exercise will be to test your stealth. If you are able to creep up on my clones and cut their throats before they realize you're there, then you pass the test. And Anko? No snakes."

Anko pouted, "Awwww."

Naruto scowled, "I'm not picking on you, and it's more so the others can actually get a clone."

He clicked his fingers, and the clones vanished to various areas of the forest in swirls of leaves, "The test will now commence. Go!"

The four kunoichi ran off.

Tenten was the first to find and execute her target, flinging a kunai deep into its back from a tree twenty feet behind it.

-BitS-

Some fifty feet off from where she was standing, Naruto smiled as he received the memory of how the clone died. One of them had already learnt the value of stealth.

-BitS-

Sasame was the next to bring down her clone, throwing down a smoke bomb and knifing it in the kidney while it was coughing.

-BitS-

The original Naruto winced as he received that memory, his left kidney throbbing in sympathy with the unfortunate clone.

-BitS-

Anko got the third clone. She killed it by sneaking up, spinning it around by its arm and slashing it once across the throat.

-BitS-

Naruto winced as the third clone's memories landed in his head. He would have to break Anko's liking for scaring the crap out of her victim before killing him, or that _was_ going to get her killed.

As he turned away to sit under a tree and wait for them to finish the exercise, he noted that Hinata had not yet killed a clone.

-BitS-

The girl in question was currently watching two clones below her where she sat in a tree, carefully observing them through the leaves with her Byakugan. Her mind was in a turmoil as she tried to decide whether to leave the clones alone (because killing them would feel like hurting Naruto) or attacking them (in which case she would be proving herself to Naruto).

Coming to a decision, she pulled her blade out of its sheath quietly and drew a kunai in her other hand.

-BitS-

Naruto blinked as he felt two rushes of memories come into his head. They had been talking quietly together when both were expelled in the same moment. One had managed to catch a glimpse of indigo hair before dispelling.

He smiled. Evidently Hinata had been the perpetrator of such a skilful double kill.

-BitS-

The rest of the test passed quiet quickly. Each of the girls except Hinata managed to get another two clones, Hinata getting the last one with a shuriken to (Naruto winced horribly at this memory) an instant-kill pressure point just about the pubic bone.

Finally the four girls gathered once more around Naruto, who smiled at them. "You four did very well today. You've made a lot of progress on the journey to becoming fully-fledged Assassins. Let's go sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow for free-running practice."

**(A/N: Well, what do you think of this chapter? Sorry it took such a long time, and I still have yet to finish the other two stories' new chapters. Kunai has 6,335 words so far while Jutsu has a total of 10,246, so I'd reckon that unless Kunai-muse gets her act together I think Jutsu is going to be the next to update! Also, once Kunai finishes, I am thinking of starting a new story! I am also currently doing a bit of planning for Bijuu Sage and Cerulean Wyvern with the intention of actually writing them sometime in the future, so keep an eye out for them as well. I must admit, this is a lot easier to write when you have an Xbox 360 with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood practically right next to the computer! And before anybody asks, no I do not have Gold, so I cannot play with you currently. Well anyway I should wrap this up before I start to ramble (too late) so I will simply say I hope you enjoyed this chapter and GOODNIGHT! Leonineus, OUT!) **


	4. The Tenets of the Creed

Blade in the Shadows

Chapter Three: The Tenets of the Creed

**(A/N: Okey dokey then, first thing I want to say is; congratulations go to Prototype7 for being the first person to correctly identify the quote made in the last chapter. The correct answer was that the quote came from Halo 2, specifically the end of the Cairo Station mission, when Master Chief is pulling the Covenant's antimatter bomb towards the hangar. It is said by Cortana in the elevator. *gives Prototype dark chocolate chip cookies, as requested* Anyway, let's get on with the chapter!)**

**(A/N: Oh yeah. It seems that your confusion as to when this takes place was with good reason as I neglected to tell you some important facts. I will therefore start with the main reason people thought this took place after Asssassin's Creed II; the hidden blade add-ons. Altaïr did indeed write about the firearm, poison blade, etc in his Codex, but for the sake of this story, they will have been invented long before the events of Assassin's Creed I. Altaïr will have simply rediscovered them in that huge library in Masyaf after they fell out of use and put them in his Codex for future generations to utilize (i.e. Ezio). What I'm trying to accomplish here is weaving all the events of this Naruto AU so that they fit, if not perfectly, at least as damn close to Assassin's Creed canon as I can get. So please tell me what I've got wrong, tell me what I've got right, and tell me where I **_**really**_** fucked up. I value your feedback and opinions as much as I value your "dis chapter is sooo l33t!" reviews. So if you spot something that doesn't agree, drop me a review and tell me what's wrong. If you can't be bothered to do that much, I can't make this story better to read in the long run. Anyway, on with the story!)**

**(A/N: P.S. I really hope you actually read these things. If I were to spend ages writing these damn things and then find out that you don't actually read them, that'd really piss me off. And you won't like me when I'm pissed off. I guarantee it. *evil smile*)**

**Four weeks later.**

"Where other men blindly seek the truth, remember…" said a man's quiet voice in the shadowy chamber.

"Nothing is true," replied four female voices as one.

"Where other men are limited, by morality or law, remember…" The man's voice spoke again.

"Everything is permitted," the women's voices chorused once more.

"Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

The four women standing before the ornate throne imitated him, "Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

The figure standing in front of the throne took a step forwards and held up the three fingers on his left hand, "The first tenet of our Creed: Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Those who must die; must die. Those who do not need to die; do not need to die."

He lowered his little finger, "The second tenet of our Creed: Always be discreet. You must be one with the crowd and one with the shadows. Appear from nowhere, slay your target and disappear."

He lowered his middle finger, "The third tenet of our Creed: Never compromise the Brotherhood. The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If you are captured, if you fail in your mission or you are being chased by your enemy, you must never say or do anything that could bring harm to another Assassin."

The four women standing in front of the throne nodded, and the man standing before the throne stepped sideways, "Anko, you may approach."

The tallest figure stepped up to the table. "Set your hand on the table, your ring finger extended."

Anko did so, and the figure raised the long blade in his other hand. A flash of metal and a soft _snick_ sound, and the woman gave a soft grunt of pain into the leather belt she had clenched between her teeth.

A figure standing off to one side of the room approached at that moment, her very buxom profile outlined in the dim light filtering into the chamber as she began to heal Anko's hand, "You do realize, Naruto; that the Assassins are going to have problems with hand seals after this?"

The male shrugged, "I was thinking of learning how to do one-handed seals or just activate jutsu with a single seal, maybe we could all learn to do that."

The woman nodded as she finished healing Anko's hand and stepped away as Naruto picked up the woman's new weapons and handed them to her, waiting for her to buckle her new hidden blade to her left forearm, slide her new crossbow into the holster on her back and otherwise array her new equipment across her person, "That will take a lot of practice, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged again, "We have a while before we're completely ready to start taking missions, learning to do one-handed seals shouldn't take that long."

The woman chuckled as she shifted her position slightly; revealing herself to be Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, "You'd be surprised. You might not need them anyway; there are only a couple of seals that require all of your fingers."

Naruto shrugged a third time before returning his attention to the task at hand, "Sasame, you may approach."

A second girl, this one with long orange bangs hanging from underneath her hood, walked out of line and set her hand on the slab after putting the belt she was offered in her mouth and biting down.

Another flash of the knife, and Tsunade was once again healing.

Naruto handed her new hidden blade over, followed by her other new equipment. Once she had stepped back into line, Naruto spoke for a third time, "Tenten, you may approach."

A third girl, whose hood peaked on either side of her head to accommodate the buns her hair was pulled up into, stepped forwards and put her hand on the table.

The knife flashed and Naruto gestured for Tsunade to heal Tenten's hand. As soon as she had finished, Naruto handed Tenten her new hidden blade and other equipment. The bun-haired brunette looked like a child in a candy store as she fingered her new friend **(A/N: I mean the crossbow, you perverts)**.

Once she was back in line, Naruto smiled, "And last but not least, Hinata."

Hinata stepped forwards and put her hand on the table. Naruto raised the knife and swung it down. A single whimper broke free from Hinata's lips before Naruto caught her wrist and set down the knife, gesturing to Tsunade to heal the indigo-haired girl. Using a basic fire jutsu to incinerate the removed fingers, he turned to the four newly-promoted Assassins and said, "Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

"Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

Naruto smiled, "Let's go."

-BitS-

"INTRUDERS! INTRU- urk."

The guard staggered as a crossbow bolt embedded itself through his spine. As he turned to see where it had come from, he caught a glimpse of a white hooded figure before he saw a flash of polished metal and felt something ease through the flesh of his neck and sever his windpipe.

Tenten lowered the guard's body to the ground and spoke into her earpiece, "Naruto-kun, we've been caught, it's time to pull out the big guns!"

Naruto's voice crackled through her earpiece, "Understood. Everybody, you can cut loose. I'll take down the target. Remember our plan if we get separated!"

Three affirmations came back as Naruto drew his dagger and slashed his way through a gang of the enemy, making his way closer to the target.

Anko had her combat knife in her right hand and her hidden blade extended from under her left wrist, cutting her way through the guards that were attacking her.

Hinata was ducking and dodging, using her Jyūken to its best effect.

Sasame had her crossbow out and was crouched on a rooftop, picking off individual guards as they sprinted past her.

-BitS-

The missing-nin they were hunting sprinted down the hallway followed by three of his guards. There was a loud _twang_ and an even louder _bang_ and two of them dropped.

As the missing-nin reached the end of the corridor and found himself trapped, he turned just in time to see his guard drop to his knees and fall to one side, revealing a figure clad in a black robe. The hood and mask concealed most of his pursuer's face, leaving only a pair of cerulean eyes glittering back at him.

The missing-nin stumbled backwards, reaching for the sword on his back. "Kibako Hakai," said his attacker in a deep voice, "You stand accused of crimes against Konohagakure no Sato, for which the punishment is death."

"No… NO! STAY BACK, DEMON!" Hakai screamed, yanking his blade out of its sheath and slashing frantically at the hooded foe, who dodged in one fluid motion before reaching for a short blade sheathed at his waist.

Hakai slashed again as the mysterious person stepped over the guard's body and advanced, blocking Hakai's swipes with the knife he held in his right hand.

Hakai frantically let go of his sword a second later and shouted, "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A dragon of earth rose from the floor and surged towards the hooded enemy, who simply drew back his left hand.

Hakai noticed that his left hand was missing his ring finger before a ball of spinning chakra formed and he suddenly snapped his hand forwards, driving the ball into the earth dragon's head and blasting it to smithereens.

Hakai backed up against the wall as the figure moved slowly towards him, the hand that had held the ball curling into a fist as the other hand came up and clamped onto Hakai's shirt, shoving him against the wall and holding him there as a long blade projected from under the stranger's left wrist and began to move towards his throat. Then it suddenly surged forwards, and everything went black.

-BitS-

Naruto watched emotionlessly as the Konoha missing-nin they had been tracking collapsed onto the floor. He tugged down his mask, exposing his whiskered cheeks to the open air before his hands flashed through seals, "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!"

Fire spewed from his mouth, reducing the target's body to ashes. Turning away, he raised a hand to his earpiece, "The target is dead, we're moving out."

Four confirmations came back, before Naruto began to walk back down the corridor. So intent was he in getting out that he didn't notice the pressure plate he had missed on entry.

The only sign he had that not all was well with the present situation was the soft _click_ before the floor swung out from underneath him.

He just had enough time to mutter, "Shit!" before gravity reasserted itself and he plunged down into a pit of some kind.

Anko heard him curse over her earpiece. Swiftly decapitating her opponent with her hidden blade, she pressed her right hand to the talk button on her earpiece, "Naruto! Naruto, can you hear me?"

There was silence.

Sighing, Anko took charge, "Guys, Naruto is out of action but he managed to complete the objective first! Let's move out!"

Three confirmations came back and Anko activated her shunshin, carrying herself out of range.

They all landed on a hilltop above the missing-nin's hideout. Hinata activated her Byakugan to look down at the building again, "I see some kind of trap in the hallway near a pile of ashes. I think that might be where Naruto-kun was."

Anko nodded, "Standard procedure for the Kiri hunter-nins is to incinerate the body on the spot where the person died. I imagine that pile of ashes is all that remains of our target by now. That trap might be what got Naruto."

Sasame looked scared, "So what do we do?"

Tenten spoke up, "Go back to Konoha. Naruto-kun will find us when he manages to get out."

Hinata turned worried eyes on the bun-haired girl, her Byakugan deactivating as she spoke, "But what if he can't?"

Anko spoke up, "If he can't, we'll get a rescue team and come get him out. The kid's a survivor, he'll manage. Now come on, let's move out."

"She's right," Naruto's voice crackled into all their earpieces, "Go. I'll get myself out of here."

"Naruto-kun?" Tenten was worried, "Where are you?"

"Hit the bottom of the pit and knocked myself out. I'll be fine, relax. Just get yourselves back to Konoha, I'll…" there was a loud crack and silence.

Anko took charge again, "His earpiece must've broken, let's go."

The other three Assassins nodded, casting concerned looks back towards the building as they followed Anko south-west out of the Land of Lightning towards Konoha.

-BitS-

Naruto cursed as, the slight night-vision he had picked up from the Kyūbi allowing him to see in the dull light of the pit, the remains of his cracked and broken earpiece fell from his ear. Evidently it had survived the impact with a lot of damage, but had only endured long enough for him to send one last message before it broke completely.

A loud rumbling explosion in the distance drew Naruto's attention. Deciding to see what it was, he took off down a corridor.

-BitS-

Yugito Nii felt the hope dying in her heart. There was no help coming. Her sister was unconscious, her team-mates incapacitated or fighting opponents they couldn't hope to match.

She herself was wounded, unable to do anything against the opponent who stood in the middle of his circle of blood, his three-bladed scythe in one hand and a foot-long spike in the other, which he then drove into his stomach.

Yugito doubled over, coughing blood as she felt the agony of the strike in her own body.

Naruto, standing ten feet away as he watched a dark-skinned male attacking a huge bulky figure in an Akatsuki robe and another Akatsuki member standing in the middle of a circle of blood, stabbing himself over and over with a long spike while the blonde woman in front of him convulsed with pain, knew he had to do something. Forming his favourite hand seal, he surveyed the six figures in front of him (having just noticed another blonde woman lying on the ground beside a redhead in a similar state) and took off.

Omoi was cursing his opponent as he tried to cleave off his arm when he suddenly heard a loud whoosh and felt somebody seize him around the waist, dragging him away from the enemy he was fighting. He saw two more grabbing Karui and Samui from the floor at the same time, while a fourth seemed to be heading for Yugito.

Twisting sharply in his saviour's grip, he glimpsed a face beneath the black hood but could discern no features.

Hidan startled when something suddenly hit him in the chest, knocking him sideways out of his circle. Before he could react, he saw a length of shining metal suspended above him before it slashed downwards and he felt horrible pain in his neck. Then he was moving at high speed through the air, and could tell by the feeling of knuckles rubbing against his scalp that somebody was holding him by the hair.

Kakuzu watched in shock as his partner was beheaded and carried off by a mysterious foe, while at the same time their target and _her_ team-mates were gathered up and carried off by more people. Sighing at the loss of his partner, his target, maybe even his bounty for the day, Kakuzu set off in hot pursuit.

-BitS-

Naruto collapsed onto the ground, his clones dispelling after they had put down their cargo. The head of the Akatsuki member he had attacked rolled slightly on the ground, as Naruto lay there, staring up at the sky with his heart pounding and lungs burning. He and his cloned had been forced to shunshin like crazy in order to escape from the second Akatsuki member, and finally had managed to escape from him.

"You…" croaked the shinobi he had rescued, the sword he was somehow still clutching dropping from limp fingers as he pushed himself upright from where the clone had deposited him, "You saved us?"

Naruto took a few seconds to draw breath to respond, but finally nodded, "Yeah, it was me."

"Why?"

Naruto looked over at him, "Those guys were Akatsuki. They're after the bijuu for some purpose or another. This is only the second encounter with them I've ever had."

The boy pulled a sucker from somewhere and put it into his mouth, "After the bijuu? That must be why they attacked us…"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched upwards slightly, "You have a bijuu?"

The boy shook his head, "Not me."

Naruto looked around at the blonde girl he had rescued from the self-harming psychopath. She was lying on the ground looking barely conscious, her breathing weak. "Her?"

The boy's jaw dropped and his sucker almost fell out, "How did you…?"

Naruto shrugged, "It was kinda obvious. You say you aren't the one with the bijuu, and she was the only one still conscious other than you. What reason would you have to lie, given that I also know for a fact that no jinchūriki is easy to put down?"

The boy sighed, "Very well. She is indeed a jinchūriki."

Naruto smiled, "Nice to meet one of my own. And you are?"

"Omoi Yotsuki, son of the Yondaime Raikage, and you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure no Sato. Who are they?"

"My sister Karui Yotsuki, our team-mate Samui Nii and her sister Yugito Nii."

Naruto held out a hand, "Nice to meet you."

Omoi shook it, "Likewise."

Naruto looked around, "So, can you tell me which way Kumo is? I'd like to drop you four off there and then head back to Konoha after my team."

Omoi pointed, "That way to Kumo. Konoha is in that direction," he pointed in the other direction.

Naruto looked in that direction, "Thanks."

Omoi suddenly frowned, "I notice you haven't yet explained how you happened across us."

Naruto shrugged, pushing his hood back as he looked up at the sky, "Me and my team were tracking a missing-nin of Konoha, a man named Kibako Hakai. I'd just killed him and was leaving to meet up with my team when I activated a trap and fell into a pit. Did you four cause any kind of explosions down there?"

Omoi nodded, "Yugito blew up the way we came in to trap the Akatsuki members. After that, they knocked out Karui and Samui quite quickly before engaging Yugito and me in open combat. Yugito took on the smaller one while I took the larger. My thinking was that she could finish him off quickly and then join me in fighting mine. Guess that didn't exactly work…"

Naruto chuckled, "I'll say. I'll help you get back to Kumo, and then I'm going home."

He created two shadow clones and walked over to the kunoichi with them.

"Er," said Omoi as the original Naruto picked up Yugito, "You do realize that if she wakes up and realizes she's on the back on an unfamiliar male while her sister and her sister's team-mate are on other unfamiliar males' backs she's going to try to kill you, right?"

Naruto looked at the kunoichi in his arms for a minute before holding her out and saying, "Would you like to carry her?"

Omoi jumped backwards with his hands behind his back, "Hell no! Last time she passed out on a mission and those two got me to carry her, she beat the crap out of me when she woke up before I could say a word! It took half an hour for Karui and Samui to get her to stop!"

Naruto sighed, "Oh well. My bijuu gives me fast healing, so whatever she does to me will fix."

Omoi shook his head, "Trust me, you don't have any _idea_ of the kind of evil damage Yugito can wreak upon your body. Let me give you an example; she got really cross with our uncle and sensei Killer Bee a couple of years ago, and it took the medic-nins _hours_ to fix the testicular damage."

Naruto shuddered before creating another clone and passing Yugito to him. The clone tried to pass her back, shaking his head, "No way boss, I'm not having that happen to me!"

Naruto shoved the unconscious female back, "You're a clone, stop whimpering! You'll just dispel after one hit, I've got more to worry about than you, I don't dispel! She can kick me repeatedly!"

The pair continued to quarrel for a long minute before Omoi, who had been sweat-dropping at the argument, noticed that Yugito was stirring.

"Naruto," he said, raising his voice over the argument, "She's…" but he was interrupted as his fellow Kumo-nin's hands came up and clamped onto the two Narutos' necks.

The first sign that Naruto received that not all was well for him was when a hand wrapped around his neck and his head was dragged down to Yugito's level and forced to look into her eyes, "Put… me… down…"

Naruto and the clone obeyed. Yugito didn't let go of their necks, if anything her grip tightened. The clone looked over at his creator, "Hey boss? I don't think it's right for both of us to die because you're a moron, so I'm going to say bye now!" and dispelled himself.

Naruto scowled, "Even my clones are traitors, urk!"

His voice was choked out as Yugito's grip became even tighter. She pulled him close, "What the hell do you think you were doing with me, tree-hugger?"

Naruto winced at the derogatory nickname before he grunted back, "Hey… I just saved your ass from Akatsuki so the last you can do… is a little… gratitude!"

Omoi cowered as Yugito's gaze flew to him and flayed him alive, "Is this true?"

Omoi nodded, "Y-Yes… he beheaded the Akatsuki member attacking you and… can anybody hear cursing?"

Yugito, now holding Naruto off the throat by his throat, looked around.

The clones still holding Samui and Karui gasped as they dropped their charges and pointed at the head on the ground, which was now _moving_.

Omoi moved over to it and nudged it with his toe.

"Oh you fucking bastards!"

Yugito dropped Naruto as the disembodied head on the floor started cussing them all out. The blond landed on the ground with a loud thud and rolled away from her.

Yugito stalked over to Hidan's head and lifted him up by his hair, "You arsehole! Why did you and your freak friend attack me? For that matter, how the fuck are you still alive?"

Hidan spat at her, "I'm immortal, jinchūriki bitch! In other words, you can't kill me you stupid bint!"

Yugito wiped the loogie off her cheek with her sleeve, "Shut your mouth you pathetic little freak of nature!"

Hidan screamed back, "I'LL COME BACK! I'LL DESTROY EVERY LAST FUCKING ONE OF YOU AND YOU ESPECIALLY WILL BEG FOR MERCY BEFORE YOU DIE, TWO-TAILED WHORE!"

Yugito's eyes flashed and she smashed her fist into Hidan's face.

"You think we should tell her she's just wailing on a head?" Naruto had sidled over to Omoi and was now standing next to him as they watched Yugito pound the Akatsuki member's head into the ground repeadly.

Omoi shook his head, "Last time somebody interrupted her while she was venting her frustration, she put Killer Bee-sensei in hospital for a week."

Naruto winced, "Yikes. Looks like she's winding down a bit now."

Yugito was indeed flagging. The surge of adrenaline she had received from finding herself in the grip of two people who were arguing over her and then seeing the still living head of the person who'd given her so much trouble was failing and she was starting to flag.

After a minute she let go of the head and allowed it to fall to the ground before bending and putting her hands on her knees and breathing hard. Before she could do anything more, her knees buckled and she collapsed backwards.

Omoi didn't see Naruto move, but before Yugito hit the ground she was intercepted in the air and found herself held in his strong arms and being lowered gently to the ground. She looked up into his face and realized he was the person she had attacked, "Who are you?"

Naruto didn't respond at first, simply set her down on the ground and allowed her to relax. It was only once he had rummaged in his belt pouch for a medical pouch that he replied, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki; I'm from Konoha."

Yugito scowled before snapping, "I got that much!"

"Yugito," said Omoi quietly, prompting the blonde to look over at him, "He's the one who rescued us from those guys."

Yugito turned back to Naruto who was now looking through the medical pack for some bandages to bandage her various wounds, "You rescued us?"

Naruto didn't respond other than to nod.

"Why?"

Naruto sat back before responding, "You aren't the only one holding back one of _those_. There are eight others, you know."

"I know that!" she said irritably as he caught her wrist and pulled her arm towards him so that he could push up her sleeve and get at her upper arm, "But why did you…"

"I already told you," he replied, in a tone that conveyed no emotions but still carried as much weight as a shout, "There are eight more beside you. How do _you_ think I know that?"

She scowled again, "Stop talking riddles!"

Naruto looked her directly in the eyes, "Then I will be blunt. Number two?"

Yugito opened her mouth again, but something in his eyes stopped her from snarling at him again, so she simply nodded. She was surprised to see a broad smile on his face, "Nice to meet you. Number nine, at your service!"

Yugito blinked for a second before it dawned on her and her jaw dropped, "Number nine? But I thought your Yondaime Hokage killed the Kyūbi nearly fifteen years ago!"

"Has it really been that long already? Hmm," Naruto responded in an interested tone.

Yugito spluttered, "You… you can't just brush it off like that! That's a really big deal!"

"Is it?" Naruto's tone was conversational as he finished bandaging her arm and moved down a little to check her ribs for any breaks or fractures, "Kami damn it, this would be so much easier if Hinata were here! Her Byakugan would be able to pick this stuff up really quickly!"

He noticed both the conscious Kumo nins going rigid, "Now what's the damn problem?"

Omoi stammered, "You… you're friends with the Hyūga?"

Naruto shrugged, "Just Hinata, what of it?" Unbidden, the memory of Neji explaining the Hyūga Affair to him came back to him, "Oh yeah… that."

"Yeah… when the _Sandaime Raikage_ sent out a "diplomatic" party to try and abduct one of your Hyūga."

Naruto didn't miss the subtle emphasis Omoi put on the title, "Hey, relax. That's all water under the bridge now, right? The only one who really bore a grudge was Hinata's cousin Neji and I kicked that shit out of him about two years ago."

Omoi licked his lips nervously, "Is… Is Konoha still angry about that?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. As I said, Neji was the only one still touchy about it and I beat him up years ago."

Omoi relaxed, "Good, so they're not going to declare war just because they think we abducted you, right?"

Naruto shrugged again, "The Leaf's always been peaceful. Some may say we started the Second Great Shinobi World War, but hey, that's all water under the bridge now."

Omoi nodded, "Indeed it is."

Naruto returned to tending Yugito's wounds. He ran a hand up her side, causing her to flinch, "What the hell are you doing, pervert?"

Naruto glared at her, "Do you want me to heal your injuries or not? Because if you do then shut up and stop calling me names. I'm not being a pervert, I'm checking for broken ribs. Now does this hurt?" He jabbed her hard in the side with one finger.

There was an explosion of swearing and cursing that didn't come from the detached head on the ground. Naruto simply watched as Yugito curled into a ball, "I'll take that as a yes. Stop whining, I need to bandage you."

He moved forwards and began working on his fellow jinchūriki once more.

-BitS-

They progressed north-east towards Kumo slowly. Samui and Karui woke up the day after Naruto's rescue of the four of them, and Naruto quickly dispatched clones to check their injuries and sort them out.

This led to an even larger number of clones being dispelled since Karui was just as difficult and abrasive (read: bitchy) as Yugito had shown herself to be. Samui wasn't much better; she was cold and standoffish whenever Naruto spoke to her, but at least she spoke to him in a manner that didn't insult him on principle.

"So," said Naruto one night, when the five of them were gathered around a fire and Naruto was cooking some fish his clones had caught in a nearby river, "If you don't mind me asking, what was your mission that got you in range of Akatsuki?"

Yugito hunched up with difficulty due to the thick bandages wrapped around her middle and wrapped her arms around her knees, "They _were_ the mission. Our border scouts reported that two mysterious strangers had slipped into the Land of Lightning. We weren't willing to allow such people to wander in our lands without supervision, so the four of us were dispatched to track them down and bring them in for questioning."

Naruto stared at her in shock for a minute, "They sent your four to do that? A jinchūriki and three standard shinobi?"

"Yes…" said Yugito.

Naruto shook his head, "Sorry about this, but… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The four Kumo-nin stared at him as Naruto rolled on his back, howling with laughter. Karui finally punched him in the side, "What's so funny, you jerk?"

Naruto shook his head, recovering, "These people are S-class missing-nins. And considering how immortal that guy seems to be," he gestured at the sealing scroll he was carrying with the Akatsuki member's head in it, "They're a lot more dangerous than you give them credit for."

"And you would know this how?" said Karui derisively.

Naruto turned to face her, scowling, "I know this because I've been chased by them before for the same reason she is," he jabbed a finger at Yugito sitting across from him, "I know because I'm a damn jinchūriki as well."

Karui turned disbelieving eyes on Yugito, who nodded, "Nibi says it's true. She can smell the fox on him."

Karui frowned, "The fox?"

Naruto folded his arms, "I bear the Kyūbi no Kitsune. And I've already met Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha, a missing-nin of Konoha. It was only the arrival of Jiraiya of the Sannin that stopped them getting me the first time around. So think on that for a second, if these people won't leave unless there is a Sannin-level shinobi in the vicinity, what hope do you four think you had? I only managed to get your guys out of that sewer because I had the element of surprise."

Karui scowled, "Don't think you're better than us just because you have a more powerful bijuu!"

Naruto stared back at her, "I don't think I'm better than any of you. Tell me Yugito, how many of your bijuu's tails can you control?"

Yugito raised an eyebrow at him for a second before she said, "I'm fully synchronized with it. I can call on both tails and maintain my sense of self."

Naruto nodded, "That's a whole lot better than I can do. I can't control more than three of the Kyūbi's tails without going insane from bloodlust. One, I'm fine. Two, I'm alright. Three, I start to lose control. Four is when I lose it completely." He looked around at the four of them before his eyes locked onto Yugito, "What's your home life been like in Kumo?"

She gave him a wry look, "Thinking of deserting?"

Naruto shook his head, "No. I have clans back in Konoha that depend on me. Just looking for comparison so Miss Queen-Bitch here doesn't have any more reason to cuss me out."

Yugito looked at the ground, "Samui-nee-san and I are the grand-daughters of the Sandaime Raikage and the daughters of the Yondaime Raikage from his first marriage to the Sandaime's daughter."

Naruto blinked, "So you and Samui are Omoi's and her's half-sisters?" He didn't even bother calling Karui by her name.

Samui nodded and spoke up for the first time, "After the Hyūga Affair, the people of Kumo revolted against the Sandaime. They wanted a leader who didn't try and invoke war against other countries by stealing their secrets, which if I recall correctly from our history lessons he did twice with Konoha."

Naruto glanced over at her, "What was the first one?"

Samui shrugged, "You'll have to ask our father."

Yugito continued with Samui's explanation, "After the Sandaime was forced to step down and our father took his place, he intended to return the Hyūga's body to Konoha, but it was destroyed after we found that we had been cheated. He still intends to find a way of making peace with Konoha."

Naruto gave her a small smile, "Maybe we can work up a treaty while I'm there. That is, if you guys let me borrow a messenger bird so I can tell the Hokage that I'm fine."

Samui nodded, "Of course."

-BitS-

They arrived at the gates of Kumo three days later, Naruto being escorted to the Raikage's office at the business ends of several katanas despite his companions' protests that he had saved them.

The Raikage was lifting weights when they entered, and immediately dropped them in shock when he saw the four of them, "My children! Where've you been all this time?"

Yugito spoke up, "We ran into difficulties when we faced down the intruders, Raikage-sama."

"Yugito…" he growled, "What have I told you about that?"

The Nibi jinchūriki sighed, "Very well, tou-san. We ran into difficulties when we engaged the intruders in open combat. One managed to incapacitate Samui-nee-san and Karui-nee-san before taking on Omoi-nii-san. I took on the other, intending to kill him quickly and then assist Omoi with his foe. It didn't work; he managed to get some of my blood on his weapon and licked it, activating some form of jutsu which allowed him to harm himself and make me feel the pain of it. It was at that point when Naruto Uzumaki," she gestured to where Naruto stood surrounded by what the blond boy had guessed to be Kumo's equivalent of the ANBU, "came on the scene and rescued all four of us, managing to behead one of the attackers in the process and bring his head along with us."

The Raikage turned to Naruto and inspected him for a second before saying, "BOLT, stand down." The masked shinobi behind Naruto sheathed their weapons. "I am A, the Yondaime Raikage. It is nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san." He held out a hand.

Naruto took it and shook, "Likewise."

A sat down behind his desk again, "So what drove you to assist four of my shinobi?"

Naruto drew himself up a little, constantly aware of the BOLT members behind him ready to kill him if he showed any sign of hostility, "The intruders your shinobi engaged are part of an organization known as the Akatsuki. They are intent on collecting all of the bijuu for some purpose. Guessing that one of your shinobi must be a jinchūriki for them to be under attack from Akatsuki, I immediately stepped in and carried all of them out of the sewers they were in, decapitating one of the Akatsuki members on the way out."

"Why would you step in to help four shinobi from a foreign village, and how did you come to believe that one of the shinobi you rescued was a jinchūriki?"

Naruto sighed, "I'm the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune. My father is the Yondaime Hokage."

A leaned forwards, the desk creaking slightly as he set the heavy bracelets he was wearing (which Naruto only now realized were in fact weights like those that Gai and Lee wore) on its polished wooden surface, "And why are you telling me all of this? You of course know that as our villages are not allies we could quite possibly take you prisoner and demand a ransom?"

Naruto folded his arms, "You could try. But you're not going to try, because I know you actually want peace with Konoha after your predecessor tried stealing our secrets!"

Every shinobi in the room stiffened sharply as the Leaf-nin began bluffing with the Raikage.

The two shinobi stared each other in the eye for a long moment before A sat back with a satisfied air about him, "You are of course, correct. I do want peace."

Naruto smiled, "Then we have no problem. I might not be supposed to be here, but that shouldn't stop us trying to hash out some kind of peace treaty or at least some kind of non-aggression pact before I head back to my own village."

A smiled at the boy before him, "You know, Uzumaki, I like your outlook. I would certainly consider a treaty with the Leaf."

Naruto nodded before looking around, "Might I be permitted to borrow one of your messenger birds? I need to write to the Hokage and tell her that I'm alright. My team should have returned to Konoha by now."

A leaned forwards again, "Your team?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes. We were on a mission to eliminate a Leaf missing-nin hiding out within your borders. On my way out of the complex where he was hiding I activated a trap and fell into the sewers below the complex. That is how I discovered the fight between your shinobi and the Akatsuki."

A sat back again, evidently satisfied again, "Very well. You may borrow one of our messenger birds to send your Hokage a message. Raiko!"

A tall woman entered. She had ebony skin, light-grey hair and a striking resemblance to Karui and Omoi. Evidently this was their mother. "Yes, Raikage-sama?"

A ground his teeth, "Why do people keep calling me that? Family don't need to do that, dammit!"

Naruto had to resist the urge to laugh, feeling that might not be wise in this situation. The woman frowned, "Fine, my husband. What do you require of me?"

A pointed to Naruto, "Would you mind taking Uzumaki-san here to the communications tower so that he can write a message to his Hokage?"

The woman bowed, "Of course, my husband." She beckoned to Naruto and they left the room.

-BitS-

Five minutes later, Naruto was seated at a table inside the communications tower writing his message.

_Dear baa-chan…_

**(A/N: Well, well, what a to-do! Naruto is not only separated from the team, but he's in a foreign village and being forced to play the diplomat! What will he do? Find out next time on Blade in the Shadows!)**


	5. Treaty

Blade in the Shadows

Chapter Four: Treaty

**(A/N: Thanks go to my friend Pete91888 for helping me with most of Bee's rap lines, which probably would've driven me insane if not for his help.)**

**One week following Naruto's arrival in Kumo.**

Shizune glanced out of the window of the Hokage Tower just in time to see a large bird approaching, "Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes, Shizune?"

"Are we expecting correspondence from Kumogakure?"

"No… why?"

"Well I know that Kumo use bald eagles for their messenger birds… and there's one moving towards the communications tower as we speak."

"That's odd… I wonder if it has something to do with Naruto?"

Shizune didn't respond; she knew her sensei was worried for her "grand-son". Naruto's team comprising Anko, Sasame, Hinata and Tenten had returned without their leader the previous day and reported in that Naruto had fallen into some kind of pit trap and promised to catch up with them once he found a way out and ordered them to leave him. Instead, Shizune walked towards the door, intending to collect the message and bring it back to the Hokage herself.

-BitS-

Naruto relaxed back in the hot spring and closed his eyes. He had been given a lavish apartment overlooking the village (with a few of the ever-present BOLT in the vicinity to keep an eye on him), and had now been in Kumo for a couple of weeks already.

Naruto had taken the constant observation in stride, leaning out the window to chat to one standing on the roof above the apartment and actually startling him at first. The man had eventually opened up after a couple of minutes and began explaining the history of the village to him. Naruto was careful not to ask about anything that might be classified, so that the BOLT member wouldn't think he had any unfriendly motives within the walls of Kumo.

Now he sat in a hot spring, simply relaxing. Between the mission to take out Kibako Hakai and training Anko, Sasame, Hinata and Tenten, he hadn't really had time to relax since before he'd gone to Uzushiogakure for the first time.

He idly flexed his left hand. It was a very odd feeling, missing a finger. Even though it had been nearly a year since it had been removed, he was still not quite used to feeling an empty gap in between his middle and little fingers.

His enhanced hearing picking up a faint giggle behind him, he closed his eyes and concentrated on reaching out with his chakra as Jiraiya had taught him. He immediately picked up three chakra signatures behind the fence directly behind him and recognized all three at once; Yugito, Samui and Karui.

Grinning, he decided to turn the tables on the three of them and created a clone, which then walked out of sight of the peepholes he could tell were directly behind him.

On the roof above his head, the BOLT member who had been observing him for most of the day sniggered, evidently having realized what Naruto was planning to do.

Naruto substituted with the clone and went to get changed, before walking back out of the hot spring and up behind the three Kumo kunoichi, who were still watching his clone. Looking up and smirking at the BOLT member, he stepped up behind the three kunoichi and yelled, "BOO!"

All three hit their heads on the wall with shock before whirling around, "Hang on, how did you…?"

Naruto simply gestured to the peepholes again, and they looked back through just in time to see the clone still sitting in the hot spring dispel with a puff of smoke.

"You know," said Naruto, "If you wanted a free show, you could have just asked."

All three went red before Karui voiced her thoughts, "It's not like that! We were simply keeping an eye on you to make sure you weren't doing anything fishy!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "Didn't know you got fish this far north, particularly at the top of a mountain."

Yugito's and Samui's cheeks darkened even more before Karui began to stammer, "What makes you think…? We… you…"

"Oh, I get it now!" said Naruto cheerfully, ignoring the BOLT member up on the rooftop who was now struggling to contain his laughter, "All three of you are tsundere!"

The BOLT member couldn't help it any more; he collapsed onto the roof and howled with laughter as the three kunoichi spluttered with outrage before shrieking with fury and leaping on Naruto in an attempt to kill him.

Naruto simply created and substituted with another clone before saying, "If you three really wanted a piece of me, again I say you could've just asked."

All three kunoichi turned their eyes on him again and he smirked as he signalled to the BOLT member and vanished in a shunshin. The BOLT member wiped the tears from his eyes and followed Naruto back to his apartment.

-BitS-

Naruto managed to get inside his apartment before he collapsed against the door and howled with laughter. A second later there was a crackle of static and the BOLT member appeared across from him, trying valiantly to keep his mask on despite the fact that he was almost suffocating from laughing so hard.

"Okay…" gasped the BOLT member once he had regained his composure, "I definitely like you, Uzumaki-san. Anybody who can make those three that angry is a genius in my book; we've been trying to get a rise out of them, particularly Samui-san, for _years_. I've never seen her get that flustered or outraged, never."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, the thing is they are so easy to wind up. All I had to do was embarrass them and then keep making sexual remarks at them and it drove them _mad_."

There was a sudden hammering on the door which caused it to jar against Naruto's back, "…and by the look of it they've caught up with me."

He stood up and opened the door, schooling his features into a passively interested expression, "Yes? How may I help you?"

The three kunoichi were standing on the step looking livid, "Come with us!" snarled Yugito, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him through the door, "We'd like to spar with you!"

The BOLT member watched as his charge was dragged off by the three kunoichi before standing and following, taking care to lock the door behind him.

-BitS-

"So," said Tsunade blankly, staring at the scroll she was reading, "Naruto ended up in Kumogakure and is now trying to persuade the Raikage to enter into a treaty with us?"

Shizune nodded, "That's basically it."

Tsunade put her head on her desk, "How does the brat do it?"

Shizune shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade raised her head and looked at her assistant, "Find me a blank scroll. I need to write a message back."

Shizune nodded and ran off to look.

-BitS-

"A-kun?"

The Raikage looked up from the crystal ball they were both gazing into, "Yes, Mabui-chan?"

"I am confused by this Leaf-nin. Half of me wants to kill him for flirting with our daughters, the other half wants to shake his hand for managing to break their attitudes a little."

A chuckled, "I feel the same way. I feel like I want to fight him myself, and I know that Bee will when he returns considering they are both jinchūriki. I can see he is already going to fight Yugito-chan."

Mabui slipped one arm around her husband's trunk-like neck as they both peered into the crystal ball.

-BitS-

Yugito, Samui and Karui had dragged Naruto all the way to a free training ground, snagging Omoi along the way. Finally they dropped him onto the grass and waited for him to get up.

"So," he said breezily, as though he hadn't just been dragged through most of the village by three irritable kunoichi for the sole purpose of them beating the crap out of him, "What are we here for then?"

The sounds of steel sliding were his only response as both Samui and Karui drew their weapons, quickly followed by Omoi when they all glared at him.

Naruto took one look at the three sharp items pointed at him, then another at Yugito who was cracking her knuckles, before sighing and reaching for his short blade, "Alright then. No ninjutsu, alright?"

He was able to block Samui's tantō with his hidden blade and knock aside Karui's katana with his short blade, only to have to bend over backwards very quickly to avoid Yugito's blow to his skull. When he realized that there was a foot approaching his crotch at high speed instead of a fist to the head (which appeared to have been a feint), he flexed his knees and leapt backwards, allowing Samui and Karui to topple into each other while he got out of range.

Omoi, albeit reluctantly, moved in to engage him at that moment, prompting Naruto to block with his short blade before twisting sharply on the spot, knocking Omoi's katana out of the way and landing a powerful heel kick to his abdomen. Omoi flew backwards from the force of Naruto's kick.

-BitS-

In the Raikage's office, both husband's and wife's eyebrows shot up as the Leaf-nin kicked their son in the chest and knocked him away.

-BitS-

Karui and Samui had by this point recovered, so Naruto found himself dancing between stabs from Karui's katana and slashes from Samui's tantō while Yugito circled, looking for an opening to take down the irritating Leaf-nin.

Naruto finally managed to distract Karui by rapidly creating and substituting with a clone for about the second time that day so that the clone got skewered instead of him while he himself made a sharp movement across the back of Karui's left shoulder with his short blade.

Yugito's jaw dropped comically as she watched her half-sister's jōnin vest start to slip off her slim frame, while up in the Raikage's office the two BOLT standing guard outside winced at the unbridled killing intent radiating through the office door.

If Karui had been angry before, now she was practically spitting fire. With a screech of pure rage, she whirled around and swung her blade at the Leaf-nin's neck.

She felt the blow connect; felt the meat of his neck part beneath the razor edge of her katana, but then the resistance was gone as the Leaf-nin vanished in a puff of smoke. Breathing heavily as her jōnin vest slid off and clattered to the ground, she screamed with anger and lunged at the Leaf-nin who was standing before her, smirking.

She slashed her blade at him again, knowing this time she had him. Before her blade hit, however, he vanished. She paused, looking around for him for a long minute before she suddenly felt soft breath on the back of her neck and somebody whispering, "Night, night," into her ear before she felt a sharp blow to the back of her neck from the blunt end of Naruto's short blade.

-BitS-

"Still want to kill him?" asked A of his wife.

Mabui scowled, folding her arms, "If he'd actually managed to cut through her dress as well, I would. However as he seemingly took care only to sever the strap of her vest, I won't. Let's see how he manages against Samui-chan and Yugito-chan before I decide what I want to do, however."

-BitS-

Omoi had, by this point, gotten his breath back and repossessed his katana, so he rejoined the battle. Yugito was still circling, waiting for her chance, while Samui and Omoi held the Leaf-nin at bay.

Once again, Naruto found himself blocking a katana with his short blade and Samui's tantō with his hidden blade while Yugito took the opportunity to attempt to emasculate him. This time, he kicked off the ground while still holding Samui and Omoi at bay before somersaulting over Yugito's head and kicking her in the back to knock her into her companions. While the three of them were trying to get up, Naruto took advantage of the folds of loose fabric on Samui's and Omoi's (though more on Omoi's clothing) by pulling a fistful of kunai from his belt-pouch and throwing them at the pair, pinning them to the ground.

Samui was able to recover quickly from this, yanking the kunai from her clothing and charging at Naruto, slashing and swiping at him with her tantō. Her face quickly creased into a snarl of frustration as the boy continued to block every blow.

Omoi had now freed himself and taken to circling like Yugito, and he had finally got behind Naruto. Reaffirming his grip on his katana, he thrust it towards the Leaf-nin's back.

Naruto realized he had left his back open a few seconds later and created a clone.

Omoi blinked as a clone appeared and knocked his katana aside, engaging the white-haired boy in combat.

The original Naruto growled as Samui's tantō swiped across his chest, ruffling his chūnin jacket. The buxom blonde was deceptively quick, and even while Naruto's clone was fighting with Omoi he was constantly aware of Yugito's presence, constantly stalking him and preparing to beat the crap out of him whenever he let down his guard.

After a few seconds, Samui lifted her blade over her head in two hands and slashed it downwards.

Naruto crossed his hidden blade and crossed his short blade over it to form a cross, catching the blade in the gap and holding it fast as he lifted up his foot and kicked Samui squarely in the stomach.

Samui gasped at the blow as she was catapulted backwards like Omoi had been earlier in the battle, her tantō spinning from her hand and sinking into the ground fifteen feet away.

Omoi glanced momentarily towards his half-sister and cursed. A few seconds later he cursed again as the clone he was fighting took advantage of his distraction and spun around on its rear foot, its heel powering into his jaw and sending him flying through the air.

Yugito noticed that her sister and half-brother had been defeated and instantly threw herself into the battle. Naruto managed to sheath his combat blade and raise his arms before Yugito's fists pummelled against his block like missiles.

Knocking aside her next blow with his elbow, Naruto threw a punch back which grazed her shoulder. Yugito avoided the blow and flung a kick at his side, which he dodged away from and kicked out at her stomach.

-BitS-

"Impressive," remarked Mabui as they continued to gaze into the crystal ball, "He subdued Karui, Samui and Omoi with barely a scratch and now he's fighting Yugito on equal terms."

"Indeed," mused A, "Shame he wasn't born in Kumo, he'd have made a truly fantastic shinobi."

"He already has made a truly fantastic shinobi," said Mabui, her eyes fixed on the ball, "You know; I have an idea concerning this new treaty."

"What of it?"

"Well how about…"

A listened for a long moment before he smiled and said, "Excellent idea."

-BitS-

Omoi and Samui were both sitting up now, watching as the Nibi jinchūriki exchanged blow after blow with the Leaf-nin.

Naruto finally leaned backwards enough for one of Yugito's punches to hit the extent of her reach half an inch from his nose. Grinning, he latched onto her wrist with both hands and twisted sharply, using the leverage to hoist his fellow jinchūriki onto his back before bucking her sharply over his head and slamming her down onto her back on the grass.

Before she could move to get up however, he flipped himself around and straddled her stomach, pinning her wrists down on either side of her head.

-BitS-

"What in Kami's name is he doing to our daughter?" growled Mabui. The fact that Yugito and Samui were just her adoptive daughters didn't matter to her.

A sniggered, "You know, I wanted closer relations with Konoha when I agreed to forming a treaty. If I didn't know better, I'd say Yugito-chan was taking that literally!"

Mabui sniggered, "Isn't that a good idea though? After all that would make the condition we wanted to get into the treaty easier to achieve."

The pair chuckled quietly as they continued to watch.

-BitS-

Naruto smirked, "Enjoying yourself, Yugito-san?"

Yugito's response was to swear and flip him over onto his back while she straddled him herself. He simply smirked again, "Oh, so you want to be on top for your first time, then?"

Another torrent of swear words later and a fist powered into Naruto's cheek, jerking his head to one side. Yugito continued to pound on his face for a few minutes before Naruto acted. Suddenly he moved, flipped her over onto her back before rolling her onto her front, grabbing her arms and yanking them behind her back.

Leaning down, he breathed into her ear, "I win."

-BitS-

"I can't believe it. All four of our children have been beaten by one nin!"

A stared into the ball in shock for a few seconds before the door was suddenly blasted off its hinges. "DAMMIT BEE, CAN'T YOU EVER ENTER LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING?"

"Hey big bro, y'know comin' in knockin' will blow my flow, so no!"

A vein pulsed in Mabui's forehead before A put a hand on her arm to stop her from yelling at his brother to shut up, "I'll explain in a minute, Bee."

Bee, heedless of Mabui's impending rant at him, walked over and leaned over the ball, "How's the flow with the kids, y'know?"

"Well…" said A, before launching into the explanation he had received from Naruto. Once he had finished, Bee was frowning.

"These guys tried to kidnap Yugito-chan? That's so not cool, man! I gotta go meet this Naruto dude; maybe I can get him in the rappin' mood!"

-BitS-

Down on the training field, Naruto suddenly wondered why he had an odd sense of doom descending upon him.

Omoi noticed him shivering and remarked to Samui, "I think Bee-sensei might be on the way."

Samui nodded, "Indeed."

-BitS-

"BEE!" yelled A out the window Bee had gone through on his way down to the training grounds, "HE'S CURRENTLY TRYING TO HASH OUT A TREATY BETWEEN HIS VILLAGE AND OURS SO DRIVE HIM INSANE AND IT'LL BE ON YOUR HEAD!"

A dropped back into his seat as Mabui moved up behind him, "I worry about him sometimes Mabui-chan."

Mabui nodded, "As do I, A-kun, as do I."

-BitS-

"Yo, my awesome team! Is this real, or is it a dream?"

Almost simultaneously, everyone of the five people on the training ground (Naruto still had Yugito pinned down, Karui was just coming round and Samui and Omoi were just watching) twitched.

Naruto turned his head to see a man who resembled the Yondaime Raikage coming onto the training field, "And you are?"

The man stopped staring at him, "I'm Killer Bee, you fool! Now what you doin' on my niece, you tool?"

Omoi noticed a vein pulsing in Naruto's forehead under his hood as he climbed off Yugito's back, allowing the girl to try and rub some feeling back into her lower body and her arms.

Naruto folded his arms as he turned to face the new arrival while Yugito helped her sister up and Omoi hauled Karui to her feet.

Bee looked around at the bruised boy and girls before turning back to Naruto, "Now I'm sure this is a dream; since there's no way you beat my team!"

"Actually, Bee-sensei…" said Karui in a dazed tone, leaning heavily on her twin's arm to stay upright, "It's real. He kicked our asses six ways to Sunday without us landing as much as a scratch on him."

Bee gaped before turning to Naruto, "I need to win back my team's honour, are you ready to be made a goner?"

Naruto's forehead-vein pulsed again and he gritted his teeth.

Bee suddenly stopped, staring at Naruto for a long second before he suddenly flung out his arms, "Well I'll be! If it isn't the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki!"

Naruto winced, while the Kyūbi made its presence known for the first time in weeks, _**"…And now you know why Hachibi and I never talk. That guy always was a nut."**_

"_You mean this is NORMAL for the Hachibi jinchūriki?"_

"_**Kind of…"**_

"_Oh for… this is going to be fun, I can tell already."_

His debate with his inner furball concluded, Naruto returned to the outside world to find Yugito, Samui, Karui and Omoi gaping at him. "What?"

Omoi pointed a shaking finger, "You ignored him…"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "Is that uncommon? Seems quite easy to me…"

The ground shuddered as Bee face-faulted. A few seconds later, Omoi was on his knees in front of Naruto, "You are Kami, you are officially Kami!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "Sorry?"

Karui explained since her twin seemed unwilling to, so busy was he in worshipping Naruto, "Bee-sensei is a really hard guy to ignore for any reason. You're actually the first person who's ignored him, _ever_."

Naruto snorted, "Oh please, I've ignored more annoying people than him."

Bee scowled, "Don't be disrespecting me, Mr. 9! I think you're going a bit out of line!"

"FOR KAMI'S SAKE," bellowed Naruto, "STOP RAPPING!"

Bee blinked, before bristling slightly, "Can't do that, Mr. 9! Killer Bee can't fight the rhyme!"

Naruto growled, "You are damn lucky I can only control three of the Kyūbi's tails or I'd be breaking shit by now."

Yugito looked up from where she was leaning on her sister, "Huh? You can't even use half of your bijuu's chakra?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. If I go to four-tailed state, I succumb to bloodlust. I don't even want to know what happens if I go past that many tails."

Yugito walked up to him and walked around him, poking and prodding occasionally, "Hmm, you seem to be functioning properly…"

Naruto slapped her hands away, "You just want to feel me up, don't you?"

Yugito blushed, "No, I don't!"

Naruto patted her on the shoulder, "You're like a girl I know back in Konoha, never used to be able to keep her hands off the object of her affection."

Yugito's face went from pink to red to white and back again before settling on puce, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Naruto jumped out of range of her blow, "Ah, ah, ah… I already beat you lot up once today!"

At that moment a BOLT member appeared, "You are all required in the Raikage's office at once."

Naruto glanced around at the others, "Shall we go then?"

-BitS-

When they all entered the Raikage's office, A inspected his children, "Mabui-chan, please take the children to the hospital and get their injuries checked out. I'd like to talk to Naruto and Bee in peace."

Mabui nodded and gestured to the bruised quartet behind Naruto. They followed her out of the room.

"You're a good fighter," said A.

Naruto shrugged, reaching into the back of his hood to scratch his neck, "Meh, I had to get good at fighting to be able to defend myself from Akatsuki."

"Would you mind explaining what you know of them?"

"I only know a little, the ero-sennin would know more."

"The ero-sennin?"

"Yeah. My sensei, Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

"Yes, I know of him."

"Well if I include in my next letter home that you want to know about Akatsuki, the ero-sennin could probably come up here and do it. He's the big information gatherer, I'm more of a battle type."

"That would be fine. Another thing I would like to ask, what is your home life like back in Konoha?"

Naruto's eyebrows shot upwards into his fringe; that was a rather odd question to be asked by the leader of another hidden village, "It's fine. Between training my team and working on resurrecting my clans, I don't really have enough free time to do much more than eat and sleep." He suddenly had an odd feeling he'd given away a little too much information. It was hard not to; this guy seemed trustworthy enough, but all the same…

A fought down the urge to grin as the boy before him proved his suspicions right, "Ah, this would be the Clan Resurrection Act of Konoha I've heard so much about?"

Naruto stiffened for a second before nodding slightly.

A sat back in his chair, "That makes things much simpler."

Naruto swallowed, "Simpler in what way?"

"This treaty. Uzumaki-san, do you think your Hokage would be interested in a marriage being made part of the treaty, to reinforce it?"

Naruto thought for a second, "She might. I would still like to defer the decision to her first."

A nodded, "Of course. I was simply asking if it could be considered."

"I don't see why not."

A smiled, "Very well. You may go; you must want to write to your Hokage now."

Naruto nodded, bowed his head once to the Raikage, and left the obvious, collecting his BOLT escort outside the door.

-BitS-

Back in his apartment, he sat down at the writing desk in the corner and grabbed a scroll.

_Dear baa-chan,_

_First things first, I need to say that the Raikage asked if we could possibly consider a marriage contract as part of the treaty, to help cement it. I accidentally let slip that I was trying to revive my clans (yeah I know, I'm an idiot) and he connected that to the Clan Resurrection Act which he apparently knew of. I think he might be planning to marry one of his kunoichi to me or something, I don't know._

_Either way, it doesn't really bother me. It actually kills two birds with one stone, because I need a minimum of four more wives otherwise the civilian council is going to foist some girl on me who'll try and kill me in my sleep, I just know it._

_Would you mind sending the ero-sennin up here? The Raikage wants to know everything he can about Akatsuki so that he can better prepare to protect his two jinchūriki. I've met both, they seem nice, and they have full control over their bijuu. I wonder if I can persuade them to help me with mine. They both know I can't control it fully, so they might end up helping me anyway._

_Hoping you'll write back soon,_

_Naruto_

"So," said the BOLT escort standing in the corner, "That was a pretty good fight this morning."

"Thanks," said Naruto, pocketing the scroll and walking towards the door to head over to the communications tower, "To be honest, I was lucky they agreed to the no-ninjutsu rule. If they hadn't, I'd have been royally screwed, particularly if Yugito-chan had decided she could cut loose completely and use her bijuu. The thing is, I'm missing a finger and still have yet to master all of my jutsu with one-handed seals, so I can't use my ninjutsu as fast as I used to."

The BOLT man chuckled, "Ah, Yugito is one of the best shinobi we have, next to Bee-sama and Raikage-sama."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I could tell. Out of interest, how do the other three rank in terms of shinobi?"

"Samui, Karui and Omoi? They're not as powerful as Yugito, but together they make an insanely good team. They've been known to even give her a problem during spars; to know that you're capable of holding off the three of them _and_ Yugito is unnerving to say the least. If I had to make a guess, I'd say you're stronger than her…"

"…but weaker than Bee, right? I guess that's a given. He can use all his bijuu's power, I can use about a third myself."

"Are you fine, Mr 9?" boomed a voice behind them.

In one movement, the BOLT pushed Naruto behind him and reached for his weapon before realizing that it was Bee, "Hello, Bee-sama."

Bee didn't respond to the BOLT, but looked at Naruto, "Hey; Mr 9! It's the man of the hour, offering to help you harness your power!"

Naruto's eye twitched before he took a deep breath and thought, _"Murdering your fellow jinchūriki is bad for diplomacy…"_

In a tone of forced calm he replied, "Did you say you were going to help me harness the Kyūbi's power?"

Bee nodded cheerfully, "We would of course, and you'd be a real force!"

Naruto sweat-dropped, _"Is it me, or are his raps getting progressively worse as time goes on?" _**(A/N: Bear with me here, I'm doing my best! It's not easy to write when your brain is trying to squeeze out through your ear canal in a desperate attempt to escape the raps!)**

The BOLT came to his rescue, "Bee-sama, Uzumaki-san has to go to the communications tower to send off his latest message back to Konoha. You can debate what he can learn from you later." He escorted Naruto away before Bee could reply.

"Thank you for saving me," whispered Naruto in a deeply disturbed voice.

"No problem," the BOLT whispered back, "It's the only way to get him to be quiet when he's in full flow."

"I don't think I ever asked your name, by the way."

The BOLT turned to look at him, "I can't give you my real name for obvious reasons, but my codename is Strike."

Naruto grinned, "Then lead on, Strike."

-BitS-

**One week later.**

Tsunade had her head resting on her desk, sneaking a nap before Shizune busted her and forced her to get back to work.

"Tsunade-sama!"

As though summoned, the woman herself walked in through the door, Tsunade's head shot up so fast there was a muffled crack from her neck and she quickly pretended to be working on her paperwork, completely forgetting about the bottle of sake and saucer she had been drinking from prior to her nap, which were still sitting on the table.

There was dead silence in Tsunade's office for a long moment before she dared to look up. When she did, she was forced to stifle a scream.

Shizune was standing right in front of the desk, and to the Godaime's terrified eyes seemed wreathed in flame and holding a trident of some sort. It suited her.

"Tsunade-sama," said the frightening version of Shizune, "What have I told you about drinking when you're supposed to be WORKING?"

Tsunade quailed under her student's glare. Had anybody walked into the office at that moment, they would have seen what resembled a chibified version of Tsunade cowering in her chair in an attempt to hide herself from the burning, skin-flaying gaze of her apprentice.

"I'll take these," rumbled the terrifying version of Shizune, as Tsunade forcibly reminded herself that she was a quintagenarian Sannin and as such was _not_ prone to wetting herself with fear, "and you can get back to your paperwork."

Looking up from her frantically nodding superior, Shizune spotted a bald eagle approaching the tower, and walked out to collect the letter from Naruto. A few seconds later, she returned to retrieve Tsunade's sake, exiting amid a hail of cursing from the blonde woman.

-BitS-

Naruto was sleeping on his bed when the door of his apartment creaked open.

Strike, lounging against the opposite wall with his eyes half-closed, was instantly alert. Looking towards the door and silently activating his camouflage jutsu, he spotted Yugito and Samui Nii and Karui Yotsuki creeping towards the bed.

Smirking and deciding to watch the show, he settled in to wait it out.

The three women were less than an arm's reach from Naruto's bed when the blond suddenly cracked open one eye and said, "Don't even think about it. Better people than you three have tried to kill me in my sleep and failed."

Samui was the first to realize something was very wrong. As the three of them had all been reaching out to the blond with both hands in an attempt to pin him down, and as all three had been too focused on Naruto to observe their surroundings, none of them noticed the loops of ninja wire being lowered from the clones attached to the ceiling until they tightened around their wrists and pulled upwards, leaving the three women standing on tiptoe with their arms held firmly over their heads by the clones, which had by now grabbed onto their wrists to hold them fast.

Naruto rose from the bed, smirking as he created two more clones and moved to stand in front of Yugito, the other two clones moving towards the other two girls.

"Now, boys," said Naruto as he looked Yugito directly in the eye, "Shall we find out how ticklish these three are?"

Yugito tried vainly to tug her hands free of the clones on the ceiling, but found they had grips of iron and were sticking to the ceiling so well that she couldn't get free or pull them down.

A few minutes passed while the sounds of three different females being tickled mercilessly filtered out of the open window.

-BitS-

Another week passed, and finally Naruto was in the Raikage's office for the final time before the treaty would be finalized.

"So, Naruto," said A, smiling at the blond opposite him, "How have you enjoyed your lengthy stay in Kumo?"

Naruto smiled back at the muscled man. They had become pretty good friends since his arrival, "It's been a lot of fun. Yugito's, Samui's and Karui's constant attempts to either prank me or kill me in my sleep for turning their pranks back on them had been most entertaining, and Strike's been very good company."

A turned his eyes on the three girls at the back of the room. All three looked distinctly ruffled and growled as Naruto brought up the subject of his utter (and repeated) humiliation of them.

"Well," said A, addressing the three kunoichi, "It's actually good that the three of you are here because I have a proposition for you three."

Naruto groaned inwardly, _"He's not going to do what I think he is… is he?"_

Unfortunately for Naruto, he was. "Now you three, Naruto told me that he is under the Clan Resurrection Act back in Konoha…"

Naruto winced as he felt three killing intents focus on his back and suddenly wished he had Byakugan so he could make sure they weren't planning to stab him in the back.

A continued, "And he needs more recruits for his little team of Assassins…"

Naruto's head snapped up, "How do you know…? The Assassins are meant to be a secret organization!"

A laughed, "Kumo fought Uzushiogakure during the last war, kid. I faced down enough Assassins in open combat to remember how they dress, what weapons they carry…"

He rolled his head to one side, pointing at a scar stretching across the side of his neck where Naruto knew his jugular vein to be, "That's where one of them got me. I still managed to snap his neck though, and then medic-nins managed to stop me bleeding long enough to dose me up on blood pills."

Naruto sweat-dropped, "Honestly, Tenten-chan knew about the Assassins, you know about the Assassins, who _doesn't _know about the Assassins?"

"Tou-san," said Karui in a deceptively sweet voice that made Naruto wince again, "You mentioned something about some Clan Resurrection Act and Naruto-kun needing new recruits…?"

A ignored the waves of panic pouring off the Konoha Assassin as he turned to look at his daughters, "As part of the treaty with Konoha, I'd like you three to join this little group under Naruto's command."

There were three strangled noises from the three kunoichi as the three killing intents focussing on Naruto intensified, causing the blond to hunch in on himself a little more. "So that means…" hissed Samui, surprising Naruto because she was usually the least vocal where he was concerned, "…that you want us to _marry _him?"

Naruto winced as A smiled, "Yes, I do. I think it'd be very good for diplomacy with Konoha, also I still remember my predecessor's attempts to abduct their famous Hyūga. As such we need to do more for them than we really should, in order to make amends for that."

"So," growled Karui, "You're selling us off into an arranged marriage?"

"No," said A curtly, even angrily, "You three have the option. I know all three of you wanted to join BOLT, but this way you get to join a more elite organization of your own choice."

Yugito frowned, "You planned this from the beginning, didn't you tou-san?"

A smiled slightly, "Not from the beginning. I was already thinking about it, but Naruto's letting slip that he was under the Clan Resurrection Act was what made me decide."

Naruto winced again as three pairs of eyes fixed on him, "Don't blame me for this."

Yugito, Samui and Karui went into a huddle, having a whispered discussion for a long moment before all three turned back. Samui was seemingly selected as their spokesperson, as she stepped forwards and said, "We all agree. We will join Naruto, though we reserve the right to decide whether we wish to wed him at a later date."

Naruto turned to face all three, "Alright then. As of now, you three are my students. We'll get you gear and start your training when we return to Konoha."

"Well then," said A once Naruto turned back to look at him, "Shall we finish finalizing the treaty?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes, let's."

**(A/N: …and so the treaty between Kumo and Konoha comes into being, with the exchange of pleasantries (and pranks) and a vicious no-ninjutsu fight between Naruto and the Kumo gang and, as a bonus, the world didn't even suffer some kind of doom as a result of Naruto playing the diplomat. So there, Akai! Hehehehehe. Well anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you when I finish the next one. This is Leonineus saying, GOODNIGHT!)**


	6. Homeward Bound

Blade in the Shadows

Chapter Five: Homeward Bound

Naruto was just saying his goodbyes. Behind him, Yugito, Samui and Karui were rummaging through their backpacks to make sure they had everything they were bringing back to Konoha.

"So will you come back?" said Strike curiously.

Naruto smirked, "Maybe if I have a mission in the area. Of course Yugito-chan, Samui-chan and Karui-chan can come back any time they want to visit."

A nodded, giving Naruto a hard glare before speaking, "Try anything with my daughters that I don't like, Naruto, and I will come to Konoha purely so I can beat your ass from there to Iwa and back again."

The Uzumaki gulped; it wasn't every day you were threatened by a Kage-level shinobi who could probably crack your skull like a nut between two of his knuckles. He snapped to a salute, "Of course, Raikage-sama!"

A grinned, "Then go, Naruto. Go where the wind may take you, and may you return speedily to your homeland!"

Naruto nodded, turned around to face his three new Assassin recruits and nodded once. The four of them vanished so fast that dust was kicked up in their wake.

"Yo, big bro! Am I too late to see my nieces go?"

A and Mabui turned to see Bee running up with Omoi in his wake. "Yes, Bee," said A as Mabui held out an arm to Omoi, who walked over and hugged her, "You _are_ too late."

Bee looked momentarily disappointed, "Ah, 'tis sad the Killer Bee didn't get to help with the Kyūbi!"

A nodded, "Well, Yugito will be able to help him, if you cannot."

Bee almost spoke again, but Mabui interrupted, "Please be quiet for a minute Bee. This is an emotional moment for me and your brother."

-BitS-

As they were both jinchūriki, Naruto and Yugito were able to keep running for a very long time. Samui and Karui, on the other hand, only lasted until they were about five miles from the border before they began to flag.

Naruto received memories from one of his clones bringing up the rear which had caught a glimpse of the two girls stumbling slightly as they jumped over a small gully.

Landing on the other side of the gully, he held up a hand to signal the others to stop.

"Why did you stop?" said Yugito as she landed next to him, "I can keep running for ages yet!"

Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "They can't, and I'm not willing to try carrying them lest I touch something they don't want me to. I rather like keeping the same amount of blood in my body that I currently have."

Yugito turned just in time to see her sister and half-sister collapse on their backs on the ground, panting. "Oh…"

"Yeah," said Naruto, forming a seal and creating six clones, "Set up the tents, find water, you know what to do."

Yugito watched blankly as the half-dozen identical copies went about their business, four erecting the tents while the other two of their number dashed off to find water.

The original Naruto, meanwhile, walked over to a rocky patch and began collecting large pebbles and pieces of dry bracken. A few seconds passed after he came back before he finally sat back, revealing a large fire pit, which he then lit with a low-powered fire jutsu.

Yugito stared at him, "You have survival training?"

Naruto snorted, "Survival training? Not quite, just common sense."

Yugito was briefly distracted by two of the clones that had been erecting tents entering the camp carrying an array of fish, causing the Nibi jinchūriki to lick her lips. Naruto spotted this as the clones sat down and began spitting the fish on some straight sticks Naruto had been removing the bark from with his knife, grinning as he smirked teasingly at her, "Oh ho, does the little kitty like fish?"

Yugito threw a pebble at him in an irritable sort of way as her sister and half-sister dragged themselves over to her. Two of Naruto's other clones wandered over and helped both sit up while the original and the two clones on either side began putting the spitted fish over the fire.

As soon as they had all finished eating, Naruto set the clones to guard the campsite and they all went to bed.

-BitS-

Samui and Karui had recovered by the next morning, so Naruto and his clones broke camp, concealing their fire pit and all the other traces of their presence with an earth jutsu he had been taught by Jiraiya, and they set off again.

The rest of the day was spent running to the border, where they briefly checked in with a Kumo team on border patrol before speeding over the border into the Land of Frost. They stopped briefly at an inn for lunch before setting off and crossing the border in the Land of Hot Water where they took another break and slept for the night in an inn.

It was then that they ran into a little problem; namely that the bridge across the ravine separating the Land of Hot Water from the Land of Fire had collapsed during a strong storm, so they had to trek a further distance into the Land of Rice Fields before crossing over at the Valley of the End.

They camped again just behind Hashirama Senju's head on the Land of Fire side of the valley, and the girls cooked dinner (Naruto having provided some meat he had stored in a sealing scroll) while Naruto went off to sit on Hashirama's head and reminisce a little.

It was in the middle of this small trip down memory lane that Naruto caught sight of a small figure standing on Madara's head, directly across from him. Ignoring the distinct sense of déjà vu, he activated his Washigan to see if it was hostile.

The soft blue glow around the person told him he or she was friendly, so Naruto sent a clone back to the campsite to tell the girls that he was going to be a little while longer before jumping down from Hashirama's head and running to find a way around.

-BitS-

Fū was shuffling towards the edge of the statue's head when she heard a voice behind her, "Be careful. I have fallen off these statues myself." She turned her head slightly to find a tall person in black hooded robes standing about twenty feet behind her.

"Hey," said the figure, when she didn't respond, "I recognize you!"

Fū turned around as the stranger lowered his hood, revealing blond hair, cerulean eyes and three whisker-like marks on each cheek. "I recognize you too," she said slowly, "The Hero of Waterfall."

The boy opposite her nodded, "That's me! Naruto Uzumaki's the name!"

Fū turned her body slightly to face him, "You can't help me, you know. Nobody can."

Naruto frowned, "Let me be the judge of that."

"_**Kit, she's the jinchūriki of the Seven-Tails." **_Kyūbi's voice piped up in the back of his mind.

"_Really? You're sure?"_

"_**I can smell the bug on her."**_

"_Alright, fine."_

Naruto severed the connection between him and the Kyūbi before stepping up onto Madara's head and walking towards the girl, stopping a few feet from her, "It's nice to meet you, Number Seven."

Fū turned around, "What did you just call me?"

Naruto smiled, "Seven is how many tails your bijuu has, isn't it?"

Fū took a step backwards, "How did you know…?"

Naruto smiled, "There are eight more of us, you know. You aren't alone." He held out a hand, "You can trust me; harming one of my brethren would be akin to stabbing myself in the leg."

Fū eyed him cautious for a second before taking his hand and allowing him to tug her up onto the top of Madara's head.

"So," said Naruto, after the two of them had sat down behind Madara's head on the ground, "What caused you to consider going up there?"

The green-haired girl stared at the ground between her sandaled feet for a minute before she answered, "I just needed to get away from Taki for a while."

Remembering how he had been treated for the first few years of his life, Naruto asked the obvious question, "Trouble on the home front?"

She nodded.

"Isn't Shibuki still in charge?"

She nodded again, "Yes he is. I'm his sister, Fū."

Naruto frowned, "Can't he help you?"

Fū shook her head, "The Taki council went over his head and got the Daimyo to order that all matters relating to me were to be dealt with by them and them alone. My brother has no say in what happens to me anymore."

Naruto frowned, "That's not good. Is that why you left?"

Fū shook her head, "No, I'm actually supposed to be on a seduction mission at the moment."

"Then why aren't you…"

"Because I've been handling seduction mission after seduction mission ever since the council gained full control over me. I'm getting sick of them… and I also suspect that the council is spiking my food."

Naruto turned his head to face the girl sitting next to him, "I'm sorry?"

She repeated, "I think the council is spiking my food. Whenever I'm at home I'm brought food by one of our shinobi, it always tastes strange and I behave… differently… when I'm at home."

"In what way, differently?"

"I feel incredibly… incredibly…" she blushed, and Naruto realized what she was trying to say.

"Horny?"

She nodded, "But nobody wants to help me, and whenever I bring my suspicions to Shibuki he just says he can't help me at all since the council holds full sway over me and he can't go against the Daimyo's orders. The truth is that it's scaring me. The Nanabi should be able to burn all foreign liquids and substances right out of my body, but for some reason he can't remove this one. It's like it's been designed so that it doesn't react to his attempts."

Naruto said nothing, so she continued, "It's like a cycle, I return from one mission, get food, end up really hot and bothered, and that continues for about a week before the council gives me another seduction mission. I always accept immediately at the prospect of getting relief, but as soon as I get outside the village the drug starts to wear off again and I end up knowing what's happening to me. I've never actually slept with a target either, I just pound the crap out of him with something very heavy until he gives me the information I want."

Naruto smiled, "Well, I have a solution. I remember one of my team back in Konoha telling me about certain drugs and such which remain in the bloodstream until they're fully purged. If we can get baa-chan to take a sample of your blood, she should be able to work out what the drugs are and make an antidote for you!"

Fū looked up, "You'd do that? For me?"

Naruto nodded happily, and Fū looked downcast again, "But… I'm a demon. You know that."

"No, you're not." Naruto's tone was stern.

Fū looked up again, "Huh?"

Naruto sighed, "You're as much of a demon as I am. I know three other jinchūriki, none of them have any problems."

Fū stared at him blankly, "You know _how many_ other jinchūriki?"

"Three."

"Who are they?"

"The Hachibi's, the Nibi's and the Ichibi's."

"Oh, ok."

Fū fell silent for a long moment before Naruto suddenly stood up, "Coming?"

"Coming? Where?"

"Back to our camp. We're set up on the other side of the falls."

Fū stared at him for a moment before smiling, standing and following him.

-BitS-

Yugito looked up just as Naruto re-entered the camp, "About time! The food's nearly ready… who's she?" She had seen the girl walking just behind Naruto.

Naruto stopped, gently pulling Fū in front of him, "Fū, I'd like you to meet the jinchūriki of the Nibi, Yugito Nii, and her sister Samui and half-sister Karui."

Fū waved at the girls as Naruto continued, "Yugito, Samui, Karui, this is Fū, the jinchūriki of the Nanabi."

The three girls nodded to the green-haired girl before Samui suddenly picked a large pot off the fire and gestured to Karui, who handed her a set of bowls, "Food's up."

They ate in silence, and once Naruto had dispatched a clone to wash the dishes in the river, he turned to Fū, "I'll keep watch for the night; you can take my tent."

Fū nodded, before she suddenly burst out, "Why are you helping me so much?"

Naruto smiled, leaning forwards and looking at her over the fire, "You're a jinchūriki, like me and Yugito. We may be from different villages, but we can't just ignore each other. I rescued Yugito and her siblings from two members of a group of missing-nins intent on collecting all the bijuu for some dark purpose that I can't fathom because she's a jinchūriki like me. Therefore I'm helping you because you are also a jinchūriki."

Fū nodded before she walked away to her tent which Naruto indicated.

"A new recruit for your little harem, Naruto-_kun_?" said Karui in a teasing voice.

Naruto threw a small pebble at her, "Shush, I already stated my reasons for helping her. If she decides she wants to stay and join my group, she can. I don't intend to force her into it, considering her current situation at home."

Inside her tent, Fū was listening quietly to their conversation as they continued to debate. Numerous questions revolved around her head; namely what had Karui meant by harem, what was this group Naruto had mentioned, and what had he meant about letting her join?

Resolving to ask him the questions in the morning, she laid herself down on the sleeping mat inside the tent and fell asleep.

-BitS-

They arrived at Konoha about mid-afternoon. Naruto was grinning as he walked through the gates, "Oh, it's so good to be home! I can't wait to have a bowl of Ichiraku's!"

"Ichiraku's?'" queried Yugito.

Naruto nodded, "Only the best ramen you'll ever taste! Hang on."

He raised his hands to his mouth and let out a long, loud bird-call, like the cry of an eagle.

A few seconds passed before suddenly four identically-hooded figures appeared in front of them, "I see you're back, Naruto-san."

Naruto nodded, "Indeed I am, Anko. Would you mind escorting us to the Hokage's office?"

The four hooded shinobi nodded before standing up and taking up positions around the four foreign kunoichi.

Naruto led them along the street, the four foreign kunoichi gazing at him curiously from behind.

-BitS-

Tsunade looked up as Shizune entered, "Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun has returned with a delegation from Kumo."

Tsunade nodded as Shizune stepped aside, admitting the hooded blond himself. He grinned and waved, "Nice to be home, baa-chan!"

Tsunade scowled, but since she knew she couldn't tell Naruto to stop as they were actually related, she changed the subject, "Who are these, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned, "Baa-chan, may I introduce my new recruits, Yugito Nii, the jinchūriki of the Nibi, her sister Samui, and her half-sister Karui!"

Tsunade nodded before gesturing to the green-haired girl on the end, "And her?"

The girl in question eeped and tried to hide behind Karui, who stepped out of the way. The hooded Assassin behind Karui, who had indigo bangs hanging out of her hood, giggled; the green-haired one was so much like how she used to be.

"This is Fū, she's the jinchūriki of the Nanabi, and she needs to talk to you about something!"

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched upwards as the girl in question sighed, "Naruto-kun, do you even know what subtlety is?" Without waiting for a response, she turned to Tsunade, "I suspect that my village may be trying to poison me with something, Hokage-sama. I raised my suspicions to Naruto-kun when I encountered him, and he suggested that I ask you to take a look at me."

Tsunade nodded before turning to Shizune, "Shizune, please handle that. I need to discuss the terms of the treaty with Naruto."

The brunette nodded before gesturing to Fū, who followed her from the room.

"Now," said Tsunade, sitting back down in her chair and steepling her fingers, "Now, please make your report, Naruto."

Naruto stood at attention and began to make his report.

-BitS-

"Well," said Naruto, as he collapsed onto a settee in the large room they had been given to hang around in for a little while, "That went well didn't it?"

Yugito, Samui and Karui all shook their heads. After Naruto had made his report, Tsunade had spoken to them each alone, grilling them endlessly about their intentions within Konoha. They had all given the correct answers; namely that they had no intention of breaking the treaty that had been set up.

Now they were waiting for Fū to come back from her check-up with Shizune, before they would all head up to the hideout to equip the four new girls.

-BitS-

"So what is it, Shizune?" said Tsunade as she entered the room.

Fū, seated on the edge of the bed wearing a simple hospital gown, looked at the floor as the Hokage passed her.

Shizune was looking at a clipboard which held the data that had been collected from the blood sample she had sent down, "The concoction in Fū's bloodstream seems to be very unique. It combines a basic mind-control drug with an aphrodisiac and some sort of enhancer. I've seen it before, but I can't remember where…"

Fū held out a hand, "I think I know what the enhancer is. Might I take a look?"

Shizune glanced at Tsunade, who nodded, so she held out the clipboard to the green-haired girl.

Fū looked down at the clipboard before her face melted into an expression of rage and she slammed a fist down on her leg, "Those bastards! How dare they… how… that's expressly forbidden!"

Tsunade held up a hand, "Whoa, what's the problem?"

Fū looked up at her, scowling, "Have you heard of the Hero's Water?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, I was the one who sent Naruto on his mission to protect it a couple of years ago."

Fū nodded as well, "Well in our village, that water is sacred. It's expressly forbidden to do anything to change its nature, which is exactly what the council of Taki has done in order to control me!"

She set the clipboard down on the bed and pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself before saying, "If I may, Hokage-sama, might I be permitted to join your ninja forces?"

Tsunade frowned, "I would prefer to send a message to the leader of Taki first before I make any decisions. You _are_ welcome to stay a while though."

Fū smiled, bowing her head to Tsunade, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I will not forget this."

-BitS-

Shibuki sighed as he picked up a scroll that had been delivered by one of Konoha's messenger pigeons early that morning. Unrolling it, he began to read.

_Shibuki-nii-chan,_

_It's Fū here, and don't worry; I'm safe. I'm currently staying in Konohagakure by personal invitation, so I'll be here for a little while. I _do_ have something important to tell you, however._

_You know about the council appealing to the Daimyo to get me under their total control, but what you don't know is that they've been drugging me. According to the Hokage (Tsunade of the Sannin, I'm so honoured to have such a famous medic-nin working on me!), the drug they've been dosing me with is a mixture of an aphrodisiac, a mind-control drug, and (shockingly) a corrupted version of the Hero's Water in order to enhance the effects!_

Shibuki dropped the letter and grinned happily at the thought of being able to get his sister out from under the council's thumb before rounding on one of the CASCADE, Taki's version of the ANBU of Konoha and BOLT of Kumo, "Get me the entirety of the council. _Now_."

The CASCADE nodded before vanishing in a swirl of water droplets. Shibuki turned back to the letter and picked it back up.

_Since that's actually illegal I'm sure you'll do something right away. Enclosed is a copy of the medical results showing my evidence. I would also like you to do me a favour…_

Shibuki read down the rest of the letter before extracting the medical report and reading it over. Satisfied that her evidence was valid, he sat back and smiled, "Naruto Uzumaki, the Hero of Waterfall… I'd have never pegged him for being a jinchūriki as well… I'll be happy to grant this request of my sister."

His thoughts were interrupted by a squad of CASCADE entering, escorting the council members. One of them, an elderly man and, he knew, one of Fū's biggest enemies on the council, scowled, "What is the meaning of this, Shibuki? Why have we been called here?"

Shibuki stood up with an unpleasant sneer on his face, "I summoned the lot of you here because I'm sick of just lying down and letting you run roughshod over my sister's life. I have evidence here suggesting that all of you have broken the laws set down by the founder of Taki by corrupting the Hero's Water for your own gain."

The elderly man frowned, "Outrageous! You are taking _her_ word over ours? We will have to have her disciplined for such base treachery when she returns from her mission!"

Shibuki drew himself up, "You will do NO SUCH THING! All of you are hereby under arrest for violating one of our most sacred laws! CASCADE, take them away! They will all be executed at midday tomorrow!"

The elderly man tried to get in one last crack, evidently forgoing his lies in favour of trying to demoralize Shibuki, "The demon whore will pay for this! Her last mission we sent her on was intended to be a suicide mission; we sold her out to Akatsuki to get rid of her! She was never meant to return from that mission!"

Shibuki smiled, "Well then, what a convenience it is that she never went on that mission. She went to Konoha under the care of the Hero of Waterfall, Naruto Uzumaki, and the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju of the Sannin, tested her and found the evidence that proved your crime! Fū is now safe from your bigotry!"

"NO!" roared the man, spittle flying from his mouth as he thrashed weakly in the grip of the CASCADE, "NO! THE DEMON WHORE WILL DIE, AND I WILL BE THERE TO SPIT ON HER CORPSE AFTER SHE IS DEAD!"

Shibuki growled, before crossing the room in three strides and striking the man to the ground with his fist. The man lay still.

Shibuki took a deep breath before turning to the CASCADE that had been holding him, "Take him away."

The CASCADE nodded and dragged the council member away. Shibuki returned to his desk and began writing out a message for Fū.

_Dear Fū-nee-chan,_

_Thank you for your evidence. I had the council arrested and they will be executed for their desecration of the Hero's Water tomorrow._

_As a reward, I am permitting you to sever your ties with Takigakure no Sato and you are free to join Konohagakure as one of their own shinobi. You may take this course of action only if you wish to. My only condition, should you choose to leave Taki behind, is that you must come back and visit some day. I would look forward to seeing you again._

_Another thing you should know is that the last mission you were sent on was in fact a trap. The council made a deal with Akatsuki that they would send you right into their hands. With this in mind, I cannot say how pleased I am that you met Naruto Uzumaki when you did. I would've never forgiven myself had you walked right into a trap and died when I could've tried to save you._

_Farewell, my sister, and may you live a long and happy life._

_Shibuki_

_P.S. Try and find a good man, won't you? I want lots of little nephews and nieces to dote on._

Smiling, he rolled it up into a scroll, sealed it with a quick hand seal and handed it to another member of CASCADE who stood behind him, "Take this to the communications tower and send it to Konoha."

The CASCADE member nodded before accepting the scroll and vanishing.

-BitS-

**Two days later.**

"Well, here you go, Fū," said Tsunade, handing the green-haired female a Konoha headband, "As of now you are officially a Konoha shinobi."

Fū smiled before tying the hitai-ate around her neck and saying, "With permission, Hokage-sama, I would ask if I might be permitted to join Naruto-kun's team."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Fū blushed, "My brother's last words in the letter he wrote were that I should find a good man. Naruto _is_ a good man. I can tell you're protective of him so if possible, might I be permitted to pursue him as a possible husband?"

Tsunade blinked as behind her Shizune dropped Tonton, who landed on the floor with an indignant oink. Finally the blonde woman sat down behind her desk and said, "The thing is, Fū, Naruto is currently under the Clan Resurrection Act. As such, you would have to be able to share, if you were to marry him."

Fū thought it over for a minute before she smiled, "I'm fine with that."

Tsunade smiled before turning to Shizune, "Can you go find Naruto?"

Before Shizune could respond, however, a voice floated through the open window, "No need, baa-chan. I'm already here."

The hooded male stuck his head through the window and smiled at Fū, "Hey, Fū-chan, seems you want to join my little team!"

Tsunade frowned at her surrogate grandson, "How long have you been out there?"

Naruto pushed back his hood so that he could scratch behind one ear, "About fifteen minutes."

"So basically since the start of the conversation," said Shizune.

"Yup, pretty much."

Nobody spoke, so he turned to Fū, "If you really want to join my little team, I'm starting the Kumo girls' training in fifteen minutes. Meet us on top of the Monument." He vanished in a swirl of leaves.

-BitS-

Tenten was drawing on a small pad when Naruto entered the hideout. She smiled when she saw him, "Naruto! The clone you put to work in my shop is still there, he dropped a message to me earlier saying that there's a new shipment of chakra-conductive metal in. If I can get my hands on it, along with one of the spare anvils and some of my old tools from the back of the shop, I should be able to make us some actual swords to fight with!"

Naruto smiled before forming a dozen clones and pointing towards the door, "Get whatever you need, we do have spare rooms. I'll fix up a silencing seal for the door so that the noise doesn't disturb everybody else in the hideout."

Tenten nodded before beckoning to the clones and running for the door.

-BitS-

She returned half an hour later with the clones and the boxes of chakra conductive metal sealed into scrolls along with an anvil and all her tools. Naruto had completed the silencing seal, putting in a failsafe so that if Tenten had an accident and couldn't reach the door, she could turn off the seal remotely and call for help.

There quickly unsealed the crates and stacked them in a corner, before they set up the anvil and began constructing a forge. Naruto called on Yugito to drill a hole up to the surface with one of her lightning jutsu through the sandstone so that they could remove the smoke from the room, and soon they had a fairly good fire going. Tenten unpacked enough metal for nine katanas (Naruto having persuaded Samui and Karui that carrying chakra blades would be more in their favour than standard weapons) and started work. Naruto, meanwhile, collected Fū from the top of the Monument and brought her down inside the hideout to get her kitted out.

As soon as she had donned her new outfit, Naruto took the four of them back up to the top of the Monument and commenced their training the same way he'd trained Anko, Hinata, Sasame and Tenten.

Yugito was the first to take down her target, driving her short blade into his temple from behind.

Fū was next, seizing the clone from behind and snapping his neck like a twig.

Karui came in third, cutting a clone's spinal cord in half with one slash from her katana.

Samui managed to neutralize her target fourth, hitting him in the back with several shuriken.

Naruto, deciding to leave them to it, yelled for all four to come down into the hideout when they finished the exercise and left.

-BitS-

He was sitting inside the hideout reading a book when the four girls reappeared, "We finished, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, "I know. Shadow clones are so useful in that regard."

Fū stepped forwards, "What should we do now, Naruto?"

Naruto put the book down and stood up, "Now, we practice free-running. Follow me.

-BitS-

**Four weeks later.**

Four hooded people walked up the aisle between four other hooded figures, stopping in a neat line in front of a ninth hooded figure in black, standing before an ornate throne.

The black-clad figure held up a hand and pressed it to their heart before speaking in a low masculine voice, "Where other men blindly seek the truth, remember…"

The eight figures standing before him chorused as one, each voice soft and feminine; "Nothing is true."

The man spoke again, "Where other men are limited, by morality or law, remember…"

The women replied, "Everything is permitted."

"Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

The women copied him, "Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

He then held up his left hand, exposing the fact that there was a finger missing to anybody watching, "The first tenet of our Creed: Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Those who must die; must die. Those who do not need to die; do not need to die."

He lowered his little finger, "The second tenet of our Creed: Always be discreet. You must be one with the crowd and one with the shadows. Appear from nowhere, slay your target and disappear."

He lowered his middle finger, "The third tenet of our Creed: Never compromise the Brotherhood. The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If you are captured, if you fail in your mission or you are being chased by your enemy, you must never say or do anything that could bring harm to another Assassin."

The four women standing in a line nodded, and the man stepped to one side and picked up a large cleaver from the table, "Yugito, you may approach."

One of the women stepped out of line, setting her hand on the table. The man handed her a leather belt, which she bit down on before nodding to him.

There was a flash of metal in the dim chamber followed by a soft _snick_.

One of the four silent figures standing at either side of the room stepped forwards and began healing the injury. When she was finished, she stepped back out of the way as the man turned to the table and picked up a gauntlet, handing it to the woman who had just had her finger removed.

Once she had buckled it over her forearm, he handed her a crossbow and quiver, which she hung on her back and attached to her belt respectively.

As she stepped back into line, the man spoke again, "Samui, you may approach."

A second figure stepped out of line, accepted the belt and bit down on it. The knife flashed and she gave a soft whimper of pain.

Again, the silent woman stepped forwards and began healing, stepping away as soon as she had finished so that the man could deliver the new initiate's new tools.

Once she had stepped back into line, the man said, "Karui, you may approach."

Again, one of the hooded women approached, had her finger removed, and was healed and given her new weaponry. Once she was back in line, the man said, "And finally, Fū. You may approach."

The last figure, slightly smaller than the other three, moved forwards. Her finger was removed and the injury healed, she was given her weapons and allowed to step back into line.

Finally, the man incinerated the fingers with a fire jutsu and stepped back in front of the throne, "Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

The four women standing before him, and the four women standing silently on both sides, chorused back, "Nani mo shin no subete ga yurusa rete iru. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

-BitS-

"I have a mission for you, Naruto."

Naruto stood in the Hokage's office with his eight Assassins standing behind him, "I'm listening."

Tsunade beckoned somebody forwards, and they all saw a woman with dark red hair approaching, wearing a blue kimono over a fishnet bodysuit, "This is Mei Terumī, the leader of the resistance in Kirigakure. She heard of your prowess…"

"That keeps bugging me," said Naruto irritably, "How do people know so much about the Assassins! It's meant to be a secret for goodness' sake!"

A tic mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead and Mei giggled, "Shut up brat and let me finish! Now listen, Terumī-san here…"

"Mei, please," said Mei to Tsunade, "Terumī-san makes me feel old."

Tsunade acknowledged her with a single nod before continuing for the third time, "Now, Mei here has requested your assistance with bringing down Yagura, the current Mizukage."

"Here is his file, containing all the information we've managed to collect on him," said Mei, drawing a file out of her kimono and handing it to Naruto, who flipped it open and began reading.

A few seconds later he started and looked up, "He's a jinchūriki?"

Mei nodded, "Yes, the Sanbi."

Naruto nodded before continuing to read. Finally he nodded and closed the file, handing it back to Mei, "This looks all in order."

Mei looked hopeful, "So you'll do it?"

Naruto folded his arms, "A jinchūriki and a Kage rolled into one? That sounds like fun!"

Yugito smacked him on top of the head, "No rapping!"

"Ow! That was unintentional!"

Tsunade sweat-dropped as she watched Naruto and Yugito argue for a minute before she shouted, "OI! DO YOU WANT THE JOB OR NOT?"

Naruto nodded, "We'll take it! Now… Yugito and Fū will need to come, since I know I can't handle a jinchūriki alone…"

"Even if yours is three times as powerful?" Yugito quipped.

Naruto sighed, "Yes, but a combination of Nine, Two and Seven would definitely overpower Three. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Overkill is underrated"?"

The blonde girl nodded, but said no more as Naruto continued, "Hinata, Tenten and Sasame will come. We will probably need Hinata's Byakugan to gather information and Sasame's healing jutsu in case we or somebody else runs into difficulty out there."

"What about me?" said Anko.

"I need you to stay here with Samui and Karui and hold the fort, alright?"

"Awwww, that's no fun."

"Well sorry, maybe next time."

Naruto turned back and smirked, "Give us a little while to completely prepare, and then we'll be ready."

Mei nodded, "I need to start heading back immediately. Any chance the six of you can catch up?"

Naruto nodded, "That sounds reasonable."

Mei smiled and strode out of the room, collecting her two guards that had been standing outside.

Naruto turned to the Assassins, "Back to the hideout. Gear up for a long period out of the village, seal extra supplies into sealing scrolls and meet me in front of the gates in an hour. Anko, Samui and Karui, I'm sorry that the three of you have to stay behind but I'll try and get you in on our next long-term mission."

The three girls shrugged. Naruto nodded, "Alright everybody, get moving!"

They all nodded and vanished in swirls of leaves.

-BitS-

"So, are we all ready?"

Tenten, Hinata, Sasame, Yugito and Fū all nodded. Naruto grinned, pulling his mask up and watching as they imitated him, "Then let's go. We've got a resistance to help out!"

He turned and shot out of the gates in a black blur, followed by six white blurs.

The Assassins were on the move.

-BitS-

Many miles north, a dark-haired girl stood in front of a desk, looking at her grandfather on the other side.

"Your task, Kurotsuchi, is to infiltrate Konoha, make contact with our agent inside its walls and find the Yellow Flash's heir. Then you must kill him."

Kurotsuchi nodded, "You can count on me, Tsuchikage-sama! Naruto Uzumaki will die!"

**(A/N: And so ends another chapter of Blade in the Shadows! Now I just have to upload the document and wait for to sort itself out so that I can actually post the rotten chapter. Quick update for all of you on the status of my other Naruto fics: Maelstrom currently stands at 7.2k words, Sage at 1.9k, Kunai at 4k and Jutsu at 1.9k as well. By that logic, Maelstrom **_**might**_** be the next one to update. Therefore I'll see you all when I finish the chapter to any one of the others. Leonineus, OUT!)**

**(A/N: UPDATE: Massive thanks go to Kenchi618 (read his fics, they are EPIC) for telling me how to get past the error! Without him, I never would've managed to post this!)**


	7. Author's Note: PLEASE READ!

Blade in the Shadows

**(A/N: Ladies and gentleminions, I have an announcement to make, half being bad news and half being good news.**

**The bad news: As of now Blade in the Shadows is officially abandoned. I've had a think and decided that in its present state it is nowhere near the level of detail I'm now accustomed to putting into my fics; it pretty much constitutes "recruit-train-assassinate-fight" in this condition, and that is nowhere near good enough as far as I'm concerned. This is also the reason for my six-month-plus blockage where Blade is concerned.**

**Now, the good news. I'm rewriting it. This time, Blade in the Shadows will be far better, so look out for it! A few quick details for you:**

**The story starts a lot earlier in the rewrite; the members of the Brotherhood are a little different and the pairings aren't quite so massive, more widespread this time; I'm also going to be putting a lot more into how the Assassins operate and such, as well as adding much more detail into their skill set, no more of the "absolutely-everything-straight-off-the-bat" that I had in the original.**

**I think that's enough information for now, so I will say goodbye until the first chapter airs.**

**Also, for those who follow my other works; I only just started the new chapters for _Jutsu _and _Maelstrom_, so those will be a little while coming depending on how much inspiration I get and how quickly. Reign is the current leader at 4k words or so, so that might be along sooner.**

**Until then folks; Leonineus, OUT!)**


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